


Blue Kiss

by minlouvre



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: 80s AU, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Requited Unrequited Love, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 09:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19082428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minlouvre/pseuds/minlouvre
Summary: a new year’s kiss shared between two best friends changeseverything.





	Blue Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> SHE'S BACK!! i originally took blue kiss down because i wanted to turn it into an original screenplay but i realized that i can't see anyone else playing blue kiss!hobi except well... hoseok lol! so i've decided to repost blue kiss! i hope you guys enjoy if you're new to reading the story or if you are back to reread :')! like before, each month leads to a spectacular 80s tune that kind of sets the mood of that section of the story!! i'll repost the drabbles soon as well, and some new ones that i've been writing!

It takes you 5 minutes to finally tell yourself the truth. The very sad truth that kissing Kim Namjoon - your crush for the better part of the year - was indeed not so enjoyable.  The first minute  _was_  enjoyable, probably only because of the thrill of finally doing something about your infatuation with the bad boy that you share 3:50 detention with. But then the next minute, his tongue got sloppier and sloppier; and you didn’t know if you were kissing your crush or you were about to be woken up from a terrible dream by your St. Bernard, Poodles.

You lightly push Namjoon away and offer him a very awkward tight-lipped smile when you see the confused expression on his face. In your tipsy, hazy mindset, you stare at him dumbly; his bleach blond hair, the stylish shaved line on his right eyebrow, the Ray-Ban wayfarers that he insists on wearing inside and at night (but at least he had the decency to perch it on his head 3 minutes into your short-lived make out session), and the dimples on his cheeks that appears when he asks you what’s wrong. In just a matter of five minutes, all your previous attraction to the boy was eradicated due to a sloppy wet tongue and perfectly straight, white teeth that bit a little too much and little too hard on your now, very sore lips. The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” was blasting from the expensive sound system in Taehyung’s living room, and you think to yourself that you should definitely go.

“It’s been, like,  _so_  rad getting to know you better, Namjoon. But Suzy is, like, calling me over,” You fib, and when he turns his head to look at the direction where you pointed your best friend was at, you quickly grab his chin and place a final peck on his full, soft lips. You pat his chest twice when you pull away and he was still leaning towards you for another smooch but you’re already walking away.

It was easy for you to escape from his sights, especially since Taehyung’s parties are always so crowded. You make your way through the sea of inebriated bodies and find the staircase to the second floor. The second floor was off-limits, but since you’re good friends with the recent birthday boy, the rules didn’t apply to you.  You step into Taehyung’s room and shut the door behind you. What you find in there is your best friend, Hoseok, sprawled on top of the queen sized bed, like a snow angel on the white comforter. He immediately shoots up when he hears the click of the door closing, panic on his face, but relaxed once more when he sees that it’s you, laying back down on the bed with his hands on the back of his head. 

"What are you, like, doing?” You ask as you push him over to roll to the other side of the bed so you can lay down beside him. 

“Hiding,” he says, mouth downturned and your own gapes open with a gasp. 

“Same!” Content fills you up knowing that someone else is having a shit night like you are. You know what they say, misery loves company. “FYI, I’m over Namjoon.” 

“How come?” 

“Cause he was, like, a horrid kisser,” you shudder thinking about the tongue action. “Like, Park Jimin horrid.” 

“Like I would even know that comparison,” Hoseok mutters. He then nudges you with his elbow, a big smile on his face. “But hey! Now you’ll stop doing things that will land you in detention!” 

“True…” You say, with a shrug. It’s true that you did so many stupid things just to get detention with Namjoon – otherwise, you’re a very good student.

You turn yourself to face Hoseok. “So who are you hiding from?” 

There’s a visible shift in Hoseok’s mood, like he was uncomfortable and that he seems to be debating whether to tell you or not, his shifting eyes clued you in. It makes you prop yourself up on your elbows and really stare him down. The two of you never kept secrets from each other. “Spill it, Jung.” 

“Alright, alright, don’t wig out, but….” He says, looking over at you.  He was already wincing with one eye closed as if he is scared of what your reaction will be so you prepare yourself with whatever he might say next with a deep breath. Hoseok does the same - he takes a deep breath before he opens his mouth to say the most despicable thing you have ever heard in your 17 years of living: “I made out with your sister." 

It was hard to not ‘wig out’ after that, since your evil stepsister Hyejeong was the actual spawn of Satan (actually, that’s not true because your stepmother is a sweet woman). Hyejeong has been trying to ruin your life since the moment you met her. You grab one of the pillows on the bed and got up on your knees. 

"You-” hit “-traitorous-” hit “-ASSHOLE!”

Before you can hit him again, Hoseok finally got a hold of the pillow and throws it across the room. He does the same with other pillows on the bed before you get any other ideas.

“I can’t believe you!” You hiss, jumping off the bed to create distance between the two of you. “You know she’s, like, my worst enemy!” 

Hoseok sighs heavily, running a hand down his face. “I know! That’s why I stopped myself and hid in here! Because all I could do is picture your damn face while kissing her.” 

“Ew, barf me out!”

“Gross, I wasn’t picturing myself kissing you! I meant I pictured you hovering over my shoulders like a giant cockroach, judging me,” Hoseok explains the misunderstanding. You lunged for him, both your hands grabbing a fistful of bright, orange hair.

“Cockroach?! Excuse me!?” You screech, while Hoseok wails underneath you. 

The bedroom door opens suddenly, revealing a very pissed-off Taehyung.

“I fucking said the second floor is off limi- oh, it’s just you two,” Taehyung says, immediately calming down when he sees it’s only his closest friends in his room. He stares at the scene on his bed without surprise, he was used to you and Hoseok’s strange shenanigans.  “Come on, the countdown’s beginning soon. Everyone is already gathering outside.” 

You let go of Hoseok and stood up from the bed, dusting off your short denim skirt from ‘traitorous-best-friend’ dirt. You looked at yourself in the mirror to fix yourself, teasing your permed hair with your fingers in a way that you like, while Hoseok straightens himself up beside you.

“You look tight with that hairstyle,” Taehyung compliments you.  “Did Sooyoung do that for you?” 

You nod, smiling at Taehyung brightly. Hoseok’s sister is currently in beauty school and you and Hoseok are pretty much her practice models. During the first day of winter break, his sister did your hair like Madonna’s in Desperately Seeking Susan. “It’s so cute, right? But look at what she did to Hoseok’s hair! She must have known he was going to turn into a  _snake_.”

“Hey! You said you like it!” Hoseok pouts, running his hand through his hair.

You shrug. “I lied. It looks like stupid traffic cones or Dorito dust that never seems to come off your fingers no matter how many times you’ve washed your hands.” 

Taehyung laughs, looking between the two of you; from the look of fake hurt on Hoseok’s face and to you turned away from him with your arms crossed and your nose pointed up to the ceiling. “Do I even want to know why the two of you are fighting?”

“No,” you say as you pull Taehyung’s hand and drag him out his room. “Let’s go, I don’t want to miss the fireworks.” 

As you descended down the stairs with Taehyung in the lead, a hand on your shoulder stops you. 

“Look, I’ll make it up to you,” Hoseok says. Turning back to look at him, your brows furrowed angrily, and you question, “When?  _How_?”

Hoseok bypasses you, and looks over his shoulder to grin at you. “Don’t worry about it. Just know that I will and you’ll be so grateful that you will take back every bad thing you’ve said about my hair tonight.” 

✦ ✧✦

A few minutes before midnight, all the partygoers were gathered in Taehyung’s spacious backyard, waiting to ring in the new year. Beside you, Suzy bounces up and down, trying to warm herself from the bitter cold winds that already has gotten a hold of you. Her neon pink leg warmers were obviously just fashion accessories on her bare legs.

She seems restless, her wandering eyes makes you roll your own.

“You’re, like, scouting out someone to kiss at midnight, aren’t you?” 

Suzy giggles, shaking her head.

“Wrong! I already discussed to arrange a kiss with someone but… I just… can’t… seem to find… where he is…” she mutters while still searching around. 

“You arranged a kiss with someone? You’re such a geek,” you tell her and she just chortles heartily, agreeing with you.

“So if you see Leo’s stupid face, tell me,” Suzy says, still looking around.

“I hate you both so much. Just admit you like each other and get on with it,” you answer her, shaking your head in disbelief at their love-hate relationship. The band geek and the football star pretending to hate each other but they really don’t… It was such a tired cliché. You touched Suzy’s arm and point to the boy huddled with the rest of your school’s football team. “There he is.”

Before she takes her leave, Suzy squeezes your hand. “You know that if you, like, don’t kiss anyone at midnight, it ensures another year of singledom for you.”

“Oh, shut up,” you huff. “You know that your relationship with whoever you kiss at midnight will totally prosper, right?”

“I know,” Suzy sing-songs happily. She begins to walk backwards away from you, waving. “Remember! Single! Again!”

You almost shout back that you’ve been single for as long as you can remember so what’s another year, but decided against it because that’s pretty embarrassing for you to admit out loud, even though you don’t really care… that much. Around you, you realize that people are starting to pair off and you start to think that maybe you really did care because of the lump forming in your throat. 

A list starts to form in your mind, a list of people that you could kiss without it being weird. The first on the list was Byun Baekhyun, the two of you have made out plenty of times at past parties and nothing ever came out of it. The second was Yoon Jeonghan, the school Brainiac and your lab partner in Freshman year who expressed the interest in kissing you – for science, of course. And then third on the list is Kim Bobby, because that boy will kiss  _anyone_.

You start to look around for any sights of the three of them.

Wrong move. Because when you look to your right, you catch Namjoon’s hungry eyes and he begins to walk your way. This was the worst possible scenario. The countdown begins at 10. 

Although you knew that you needed to run away, you stay frozen on the spot.  _Shit, shit, shit_ , you mutter under your breath, and somehow 5 seconds has passed and he is already halfway to you.

4\. He calls out your name.

3\. He licks his lips.

2\. Just a step away.

1…

Before Namjoon can reach you, bright orange blurs in your vision. Hoseok had cut the bad boy off from his path and swoops in with an arm around your waist. The people around you start to cheer. The countdown was now at zero.

The new year has come - 1987 - and when you look up at your best friend, he winks as his face lowers to come closer to yours. As soon as his lips was pressed on yours, your eyes flutters shut. Kissing your best friend was not how you pictured last year would end and this new year would begin, but oddly enough, you savour it. Hoseok was a surprisingly good kisser, he knows exactly what he is doing.

Then there was a low grunt that reverberates from Hoseok as he presses himself closer to you, deepening the kiss, and something about that sound stirs something in you. One of your hand finds its way up to tangle itself into his soft, orange hair, while the other cradles the back of his neck. You feel Hoseok smile into the kiss before he is tongue is parting the seam of your lips. You think you might have moaned – or maybe it was him – you don’t even know anymore; your mind was too hazy, especially since he is grasping your hips so tight in a way that you like.

Much to your disappointment, Hoseok pulls away and looks around, checking to see if Namjoon had seen the show he had planned up in the final seconds of the last year. Namjoon had and he was sulking away off into the house, probably to drown his sorrows in cheap beer; but you didn’t care about that. Hoseok grins, pinching your cheeks, cooing  _you’re welcome, I don’t owe you anymore, right?_  You could only nod and mutter  _yeah, totally_  while he ruffles your hair and pulls you closer to him so the two of you can watch the light show in the sky in the company of each other’s warmth. Actually, instead of watching the fireworks, you watch Hoseok; the way his eyes widen and mouth parts in an awed ‘o’ when he sees a particular firework display he likes, the way he flinches and holds on to you tighter when a loud noise erupts, or the way he checks on you with that big, dumb smile on his face to see if you’re reacting similarly to him. He runs his hand through his hair like he had done in front of you a million times before but for the first time, it makes your heart flutter. And for the first time, the bright smile on Hoseok makes your pulse quicken. You start to see Hoseok for the first time in a brand new light and because of that, you knew that this new year is going to be the worst year of your life. 

* * *

[ **January** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAYUdldNzLNA&t=OTI4MzcwZGZmNjU3YWE0MDBmOTczYzc2MDUyYmM4YjZmNGY4NGI4YixydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

A week later, school is back in session and you begin your final semester of senior year. You see Hoseok only once after the party and it’s all your doing. It was a bit odd not seeing Hoseok at least once in a day but you had a good excuse - or several good excuses. Every time he called to ask if you could hang out, you have one slipping out your lying mouth.

“I have to, like, take Poodles to the vet today. Her slobbering has gotten so much more excessive lately.”

“My aunt asked me to go to dinner with her at Baton Bleu. I couldn’t say no because you know she’s like a total shut-in cat-lady and this is the first time in forever that she’s actually leaving her house!”

“Suzy is, like, forcing me to go on the double date tonight. She’s setting me up with Wonho, you know him, right?” 

Of course, you did do all of those thing. But each of those request from your friends and family was confirmed only  _after_  you got off the phone with your best friend. So technically, you weren’t totally lying.

To make up for being MIA, you wait by Hoseok’s locker with hot chocolate from the diner near your school before first period starts.

After the successful double date and another upcoming one with Wonho, you tell yourself to stop being weird. You don’t like-like Hoseok, you were just caught up in the moment and the terrible kiss with Namjoon amplified that ‘feeling’ you thought you were having for your best friend. Besides, you’re still a bit TO’ed at him for kissing your stepsister, who keeps grilling you if Hoseok has mentioned her to you lately. So there’s absolutely no way that you like Hoseok; especially since you know every stupid thing he has said and done and you also know all his gross habits. Like how he thinks Ally Sheedy is  _so_  much prettier than Molly Ringwald and how he has no qualms about letting one rip in front of you. 

But as soon as you see Hoseok appearing around the corner, a green beanie clashing disgustingly with his orange hair while also sporting the ugliest sweater you’ve seen in your entire life  _and_  still find that your heart rate has rapidly increased, you knew you were doomed. 

“Hey!” He shouts, his smile blinding you like the sun on a hot summer’s day.

“Hey yourself,” you grumble, looking away, holding out the drink for him.

Hoseok takes the drink from you and takes a sip, eyes closing. “Mmm… Cold hot chocolate.” 

You pout at his lack of ‘thank you’. “It’s not my fault that you’re like so late. I was standing here, holding your drink for like 15 minutes, looking like a total dipstick.”

“I didn’t even know you’ll be here waiting for me, but sorry… and thanks for this… Oh hey, look!” Hoseok exclaims, turning around to model his new JanSport backpack. It was almost the same shade as his hat, green is his favorite color. 

He changes his pose several times for you, and each pose had you feeling hotter and hotter, but your face was as blank as the worksheets that you had to do over the holidays – you didn’t know how you managed to keep up your façade. The first pose being his hands on his hips, legs spread far apart, an ‘ooh!’ leaves his lips as he is tilts his head back to the ceiling.

Then his feet come together and he is sticking his ass out at you, looking over his shoulder while he bites his thumb. “Ah!”

The final pose downright murders you. Turning back around, Hoseok lifts his ugly sweater up to show you his golden, glowing abs. “Ssss…”

“You’re grody to the max!” You shout at him, hoping that he thinks your reddening face was due to you being angry at him. “Like I want to see your stupid undefined stomach.”

Hoseok giggles. “Hey, it’s getting there! I was in the weights room since the school opened this morning, working on my fitness.”

“What for? Even with muscles you’ll still be just a loser,” you say, but the image of his abs still stuck in your head.

“Whatever, I know you think I’m sexy,” Hoseok sing-songs, and you almost start sweating buckets. Hoseok wiggles his brows up and down. “The backpack looks good, right? Courtesy of the  _coolest_ ,  _prettiest_ ,  _bestes_ t gal I know.”

“Oh, bag your face,” you say, masking the fluttering in your stomach from the compliments he just paid you with a scowl on your face. But he better love the Christmas present you bought him, it was worth 7 whole hours’ of working at the stanky community pool. “You’re totally wearing it like a dweeb.”

You reached over and yanked one strap down, so it falls off Hoseok’s shoulder. “Much better.”

“So how was the double date?” Hoseok inquires while he struggles to open his locker, he had already forgotten his combination after being away from school too long. “Hopefully, Suzy and Leo weren’t just bickering all night while you and Wonho watched.”

You shake your head, taking over for him and swiftly opens his locker with a few twist of the lock. “No, they were surprisingly normal. A bit gross with the excessive PDA, but, like, normal.”

“That’s good to hear. But what about  _your date_?” Hoseok asks, putting away his workout things.

“I don’t know. I guess Wonho is cool and smart and-” 

“Hot?” 

“Oh my god, stop trying to make me out to be a shallow ditz!” You say with a huff. Hoseok gives you a pointed look which makes you roll your eyes. “Okay  _fine_ , he’s a total babe.”

“So you like him?” 

“Um… Well, we’re going on another date this Friday, so like yeah, I guess,” you shrug nonchalantly, but was secretly checking to see if Hoseok showed any indication of being jealous. Nada, much to your disappointment.

“I bet you’re already calling yourself Mrs. Shin Y/N like the obsessive weir-“

“Excuse me, Y/N.”

The captain of the cheerleading team, Jennie Kim, taps you on the shoulder. Hoseok stops talking, while your eyes widen. You were totally blocking her way to her locker, which was right beside Hoseok’s. 

“Oh, sorry Jennie!” You exclaim, moving out her way. She smiles, shaking her head and tells you it’s fine. The three of you make small talk about each of your holiday break, although yours and Hoseok’s was nothing compared to Jennie’s. She vacationed to the beautiful Maldives, and she even showed you the polaroid pictures that she took there. You were beyond jealous to say the least.

“Y/N, what classes do you have this semester?” Jennie asks.

“Calculus, English Lit., Advanced Chem, and Advanced Physics.”

Jennie giggles. “I was hoping we’d have a class together but you’re  _way_  too smart, Ms. Valedictorian.”

You place a finger in front of your lips, smiling coyly. “Shhh… Not too loud, you’re, like, going to ruin my rep. Besides, it’s not final yet, Valedictorian can still go to Jeonghan.”

Hoseok lets out a bit of air from his mouth, eyes rolling back. “You’ll get it. And everyone already knows you’re a nerd, but for some reason they think you’re also cool? I don’t get it.”

You ignore him and ask Jennie what classes she has.

“You two have first and last period together,” You say, pointing between Hoseok and Jennie, after she tells you her schedule. You turn to your best friend for confirmation, head titling to the side. “Right?”

“Yup, the classes for below average students!” Hoseok says, beaming. You punch his arm, while also throwing an apologetic look at Jennie. “Ow, it’s true!”

“He’s totally right,” Jennie says, shrugging. “Honesty is, like, the best policy.”

Hoseok points at her, looking amazed that she agrees with him. “Exactly!”

The first bell rings, indicating that classes start in 5 minutes.

“Let’s walk together?” Jennie asks Hoseok, and he accepts with a swift nod.

“Bye, Y/N,” Jennie says, with a small wave.

“Bye Jennie!”

Hoseok squeezes your arm, smiling. “I’ll see ya at lunch, okay?”

“Alright,” you smile back.

As they leave together, you turn your heel and proceed to walk the opposite way. The spot where Hoseok just touched you burns.

✦ ✧✦

The 2 nd  date with Wonho soon turns into a third… Then a fourth… And then before you know it, it’s almost the end of January and you’ve been on 9 dates in total, and he’s walking you to your classes and is calling you babe in front of all his football buddies. 

Wonho was  _so_  nice and surprisingly, he is also smart enough to hold conversations. Not to mention, he was such a major stud. Fit beyond belief and he also has the coolest tattoos - something that you learned when the two of you went to 3 rd  base on your 3 rd  date. He was pretty much everything you hoped Kim Namjoon was. And it was also fun to sit with Suzy during lunch with all the football guys surrounding the both of you, making every girl and gay guys in your school totally jealous. 

But despite all that, you knew you had to break up with him.

He just doesn’t give you any ‘can’t-sleep-at-night-cause-you’re-too-busy-thinking-about-his-smile’ type of feelings. Like the fluttering butterflies that you get when a  _certain someone_ passes you in the halls and blows a cheeky kiss your way, or how you forget to breathe when you find a  _certain someone_ napping so peacefully on one of the benches at the waiting area of the community pool because he was waiting for you to finish your shift, or like how a  _certain someone_  seems to constantly be on your mind, every second of every single day.

So you break up with Wonho on your 10 th  date. You gave him the usual excuse,  _it’s not you, it’s me_ ;  _you’ll find a better girl than me_ ; yada, yada, yada. He was completely fine with it – or so you thought.

“How dare you!” Suzy screams when she barges into your bedroom the day after you break up with Wonho. You look up from your homework, terrified, wondering what you did wrong. 

“He cried, Y/N, you made Shin Wonho cry!”

An ‘oh’ leaves your parted mouth when you finally realize what she’s mad at you for. “I had to break up with him…”

“Why?” 

“Because…” You feel yourself starting to sweat, Suzy can read you like an open book so there’s no point in lying to her. “I like someone else.”

“You like someone else?” Suzy questions, anger replaced by excitement as she grabs your shoulders. “Who?” 

“Hoseok…” 

“Pardon me?”

Still avoiding her eyes, you say his name a bit louder this time. “Hoseok…” 

“Hobi?!” Suzy screeches so, so loud; her hands are off your shoulders and thrown into her hair. She begins to pace back forth, muttering like a madwoman. “Did I, like, hear that correctly? You like Hoseok? Jung Hoseok? Our Hobi? Or is it some other Hoseok who is totally cool and unlike…” 

She stops to gasp when you don’t deny it. “Our Hobi, oh my god. Y/N, oh my god.”

“I  _know_ ,” you groan. “You think I’m happy about this? Wonho would have been, like, the perfect trophy husband but all I could think of is stupid…”

You shake your head, sucking in your breath; you can’t admit it out loud again. Once was enough for you.

Suzy lays down on your bed, staring at the ceiling. Her brows were knitted, looking so confused. She was probably trying to process what she had just learned so you turn back to your homework to allow your best friend to do just that. It takes 5 whole minutes of silence before she finally speaks up.

“For some reason… The more that I think about… It actually…. Isn’t as grody as I first thought it was.”

You sigh, shutting your textbook, swivelling your chair around to look at her. “Suzy, you don’t have to lie to me.”

“No, I think that you and Hoseok would actually be really cute together,” Suzy mummers. “And I think that he, like, likes you too.”

“Now, you’re just making things up,” you say, rolling your eyes. If Hoseok likes you, you would definitely know. Wouldn’t you? 

“Y/N, no, I’m serious,” Suzy says, sitting up, her face as serious as a heart attack. She looked like she just found the answer to all of life’s greatest mysteries. “Remember the time in freshman year when he scored a date with Joy who he said he had, like, a “major crush on”, but then you sprained your ankle and he cancelled the date in a flash, just to take care of you?”

“He was just being a good friend…”

“Or that one summer you went to camp, and you wrote us a letter saying you were like having a thing with one of the other counsellors –“

“Jin,” you sigh, dreamily. You start to wonder what happened to him and why you two never tried a long-distance relationship.

“Who cares about him, I’m talking about Hoseok here!” Suzy snaps. “Focus, Y/N, focus.”

“Right, sorry.”

“What I was saying is that Hoseok was weirdly jealous of the guy, like he was mopey all summer until you came back crying that Jin had a girl back home.”

“Oh, now I remember why I stopped liking him… And about Hoseok, he was mopey before I left. He wanted to go to the sports camp across the lake from the camp I went to but his parent’s couldn’t afford it. It’s not because of me.”

Suzy rolls her eyes. “Excuses after excuses… But you can’t deny this! Why did he kiss you on New Year’s?”

You open your mouth to answer but Suzy glares at you, a look that says ‘that was a rhetorical question, you airhead, so don’t even try it’.

“Saving you from Kim Namjoon was just an excuse, he didn’t have to kiss you, he could have just pulled you away to some other spot and called it a night. But  _no_ , he just  _had_  to kiss you. Then after he kissed you, he couldn’t wait to see you again, he kept calling me and Tae asking to hang out with us four together and when you didn’t show up because you were busy, he seemed oddly disappointed. Oh! And the night before the double date, he called me at 1 in the morning! 1 IN THE MORNING! He woke up my entire family just to ask if Wonho was good enough for you. I just thought he was being an overprotective friend but now that I think about… He, like, likes you.” 

Your mouth was gaping wide open by the time Suzy finishes. Everything she had just said made so much sense to you, you couldn’t believe that you didn’t think of it before. “You really think so? You think Hoseok actually likes me back?”

“No duh! And I’m so glad that we’re, like, seeing him soon,” Suzy say, standing up from your bed suddenly. The creepy smile that crept on her face makes you shudder and you’re almost afraid to ask why but you do anyway. “Why’s that?”

“Cause you’re going to tell him you _lurvhe_  him.”

“What? No, I’m not – and I don’t love him, I  _like_ him.”

“Tomato, tomato…” Suzy says, rolling her eyes, and she’s already digging through your closet, trying to find the most appropriate outfit for you to wear when you see Hoseok in half an hour at the pizza place you’re meeting him and Taehyung at. “…and yes, you are. You broke my baby’s best friend’s heart, so this is how you’ll make it up to me.” 

“You’re evil,” you moan, leaving your seat at your desk to curl up on your bed. “I’m not ready!” 

Pulling a red turtleneck dress out of your closet, Suzy holds it up triumphantly. “Oh, but you will be.”

✦ ✧✦

The walk to the pizza place was uncomfortable and cold, to say the least. Yes, the red turtleneck dress was cute but the reason you’re wearing it was not worth all the effort – especially since you know that there’s no way in hell that you’ll be taking off your coat even when inside because it was absolutely freezing, the lowest temperature all winter. And the dress wasn’t even yours, you’re pretty sure it’s Hyejeong’s but your dad had just mistakenly placed it in your closet after doing the laundry. She’ll kill you if she catches you wearing it.

You find Hoseok and Taehyung sitting at a booth with a giant pepperoni pizza already on the table. Taehyung was laughing maniacally while the other looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. When you and Suzy approach the table, Taehyung smiles widely and seems to be bursting at the seams with joy.

“I know a secret! I know a secret!” Taehyung sings as Hoseok tries to cover his mouth. “But Hobi will be so mad at me if I tell!”

“Oh? Our wittle Hobi has a secret?” Suzy teases, but her eyes were playfully on yours. “What an interesting turn of events!”

She motions for you to take off your coat, and you do - but very reluctantly. Suzy catches the way Hoseok’s eyes seems to be grazing down your body and smirks to herself.

“How about a secret…” Suzy begins, eyes flicking to you, before it settles on Taehyung again. “… For a secret?”

Hoseok eyes leaves its gaze on you and he turns to Suzy, shaking his head. “Nope, not his to te–“

“Sweet! Deal!” Taehyung exclaims, clapping happily. The boy was as high a kite and he didn’t seem to realize Hoseok’s warning glares.

“I’ll kill you Tae, I swea-“

“Hoseok is totally crushin’ on Jennie Kim!”

* * *

[ **February** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHutZXREZ0E)

 

The crushing revelation of Hoseok’s crush on Jennie couldn’t have come at a worst time. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and every store windows and streets and school hallways and even your own living room was decorated with red, pink, and purple hearts; there were couples doing disgusting couple-y things everywhere you went; and the love songs after love songs on the radio has you pulling your hair out.

The sad thing was, you couldn’t even blame Hoseok for liking Jennie. You wished she was like the stereotypical cheerleader that you see in all the movies and television shows, so you can hate her out of spite, but she’s not. She’s treats people kindly, well-liked by everyone, and is totally not snobby; the only thing she has in common with stereotypical cheerleaders is that she’s absolutely gorgeous.

The most heart wrenching thing ever was that Taehyung thinks that Jennie likes Hoseok as well. And why wouldn’t she? Although it’s only recently that you’ve gotten feelings for your best friend, you’ve always thought that he would have been a good boyfriend to somebody (you just never thought that one day you would have wanted that somebody to be you).

It’s only a matter of time before they’ll officially start dating. They have two classes together and in both those class, they sit beside each other. Their lockers are right beside each other’s. They work part-time at the same dance studio, teaching little kids how to dance. It’s like the universe wanted them to be together.

The day of your reckoning comes exactly on February 14 th , at your school’s semi-formal Valentine’s Day Dance. You spend most of the night in complete bliss, dancing away with Suzy to all your favorite top 20 songs, your hair teased perfectly and the lace bustier dress with the poofy tulle skirt that you’re wearing swishes prettily while you moved.

But another slow song resounds throughout the gymnasium and you let Leo take Suzy away from you.

**_Swaying room as the music starts, strangers making the most of the dark_ **

The dance floor was starting to fill with couples as the DJ says over the music that it will be the last song for the night. You quickly try to make your leave, spotting an empty table where you can rest your aching feet, before you get stuck standing by your lonesome in the middle of the love fest.

**_Two by two, their bodies become one_ **

Out of nowhere, Hoseok appears, grabbing your hand.

“Dance with me,” he demands, already pulling you back into the dancefloor. When the two of you were at the centre, Hoseok’s hands quickly grasps your hips but his attention wasn’t on you - it was on Jennie, who was a couple of feet away, dancing with one of her friends, Kim Hanbin.

“Are you trying to make Jennie jealous?” You ask, biting your lip as you place your hands on his shoulders. Hoseok finally looks at you, and you both start to sway in time with Madonna’s crooning.

“Well… Yeah. That’s fine, right?” Hoseok asks, looking at you with hopeful eyes. You swallow down the disappointment and turned your face away from him.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

**_I see you through the smoky air, can’t you feel the weight of my stare?_ **

To distract yourself from the warmth of Hoseok’s hands on you, you do the same thing as he is doing, checking to see if the two of you dancing is gauging any reaction from the beautiful cheerleader. There was none, Jennie was completely in another world with Hanbin, laughing with a wide smile at something the boy had said to her. The disappointment in Hoseok’s face makes you feel sorry for him. As his best friend, shouldn’t you try harder to help him?

“Look, she’ll never care if we’re dancing like two virgins, leaving a space between us for our heavenly Father,” you say, which makes Hoseok howl with laughter.

“What do you suggest, oh brilliant one?” 

**_You’re so close, but still a world away_ **

You take a step closer to him, until the two of you are chest to chest. You were too distracted by your own rapidly beating heart to notice that Hoseok’s breath has hitched.

At this point you don’t know whether you’re helping Hoseok, helping yourself, or torturing yourself. It must be a combination of the three.

**_What I’m dying to say, Is that I’m crazy for you_ **

“What?” You ask, your voice comes out small as his eyes gazes into yours. There’s a small, tender smile on Hoseok face that nearly gives you a heart attack.

“You’re wearing the perfume I gave you for Christmas. It smells nice.”

“Thanks.”

**_Touch me once and you’ll know it’s true_ **

“Also, I think I haven’t told you.”

“Told me what?”

“That you look really beautiful tonight.”

**_I never wanted anyone like this, it’s all brand new_ **

“Oh, t-thanks,” you managed to say with wide eyes. You place your chin on Hoseok’s shoulder so he won’t see the stupid smile that can’t help but show up on your face. “But, that’s, like, really rude because I personally think that I look beautiful everyday…”

Hoseok chuckles, turning his head to whisper in your ear, his lips accidently grazing it. “You’re absolutely right. My mistake.”

A chill runs down your spine, making you shiver involuntarily. You finally get the courage to look at Hoseok again and he was looking at you through hooded eyes. You lick your lips out of nervousness, and his eyes falls to it, following your pink tongue.

You feel another pair of eyes on you, and you check to see who it was as unobvious as you can.

“Jennie’s totally, like, staring at you with a longing look on her face,” you inform Hoseok.

**_You’ll feel it in my kiss, you’ll feel it my kiss_ **

“Oh?” Hoseok mumbles, his eyes leaving your lips to look from the corner of his eyes at his crush. They lock eyes for a couple of seconds before Hoseok is back to looking at you. “That’s great.”

**_And you know it’s true_**  

“Mhm.”

“Yeah.”

**_I’m crazy, crazy for you_ **

The song ends abruptly, the DJ thanks the crowd for being ‘totally radical’ and to have a safe journey home. It seems that Hoseok hadn’t heard him because he still has a firm hold on you. You clear your throat, which wakes Hoseok up from his daze, dropping his hand from your hips and moving away.

“Well, I think our plan worked,” you tell him, with a forced smile. Hoseok nods as he stuffs his hands in his pockets, looking over at Jennie who was waiting near the double doors leading outside. She’s pretending to be busy looking through her purse but every once in a while, her eyes will flicker to Hoseok.

“Go get her, Tiger,” you encourage awkwardly, punching Hoseok’s shoulder quite lightly because your limbs were still feeling like jello from being so close to him. He chuckles, looking back at you, a smile on his face.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Hoseok says. “Thanks, Y/N.”

You nod, giving him a thumbs up. As the lump in your throat forms and your eyes starting to water, you quickly turn around. You almost walk away but a hand on your wrist stops you. You look back, and Hoseok is staring at you with his lips parted.

“Y/N,” He begins, and then a small part of you start to get your hopes up. That maybe, just maybe, Hoseok will tell you that it was you that he likes all along; Suzy is still adamant that he does. A couple seconds passes, his hand is still on your wrist; and you think that maybe she could still be right. But he drops it with a grin on his stupid, beautiful face. “Be careful getting home, it’s icy outside.”

That night, Hoseok and Jennie officially become a couple.

✦ ✧✦

This year was the first time in 13 years that you don’t celebrate Hoseok’s birthday with him. But he has a girlfriend now so you were pretty understanding that he wanted to spend his 18 th birthday more with her than his friends that pretty much plan the same party every year – pizza at his house while watching all his favorite movies.

Hoseok played hooky so you didn’t see him at school the whole the day. And when you stopped by his place after school to drop off your present, his sister had told you that he was already out with Jennie. His family urges you to stay so you can all celebrate together when he comes back. His mom tells you that your favorite dessert is currently baking in the oven. You tell them that it’s tempting but you had a quiz you had to study for, so you apologize and bid them goodbye.

You find yourself dragging your feet on the way home, a heavy weight of sadness on your shoulders weighing you down.

When you got home; you locked yourself in your bedroom, turned off the lights, and hid under the blankets. To hell with studying for your quiz, you just wanted to wallow in your sadness. Your dad, stepmom, and even Hyejeong try to coax you out for dinner but you wouldn’t budge. You fall asleep sad, tired, and hungry.

✦ ✧✦

tok. tok. tok.

You wake up much later from the sound of pebbles being thrown at your window. The clock on the wall tells you it’s 11 PM, and you stand from your bed and walk over to your window, wondering what the hell is going on. Dragging your curtains open, you look out to see the bright orange birthday boy waving both his arm at you. Without any words, he begins to climb the tree in your yard and he gets up in just few seconds, an expert because he has done it so many times before. You open your window, letting Hoseok and the cold air in.

“What’s your damage, Hoseok?” You say, closing the window behind him; but you were secretly so happy, you thought you wouldn’t be able to see him today.

“Is that really the way you should greet your best friend on his birthday?” Hoseok says, faking hurt.

Crossing your arms, you shrug. “Fine, I guess I can be nice for an hour.”

Hoseok laughs, pulling you into a hug and you squeeze him so tight that Hoseok chokes out the need for air.

“Anyways… What are you doing here?” you ask when you pull apart from him, and the both of you take a sit on your bed. From his coat pocket, Hoseok pulls out a small shiny green wrapped box. You recognized it instantly, it was the present you gave him.

“You really thought I was going to open this without you with me?” Hoseok asks, eyebrow raising. He sighs loudly when you don’t answer.

“This is really small,” Hoseok says, shaking the present. “Are you proposing to me?”

You roll your eyes. “Shut up and open it.”

“Okay, okay…” Hoseok does as you say, ripping the wrapping paper and then takes off the top of the small box he was left with.

Inside was a keychain of a green monkey holding a heart with the word ‘BEST’ on it. Hoseok holds it up, giggling.

“It’s for your car keys,” you explain to him. Hoseok’s dad told you two weeks ago about the car that they’re getting him for his birthday, so you bought your gift accordingly.

You reach into your backpack to pull out your own set of house keys. “And look, I have one too!”

Your keychain says ‘FRIENDS’, an identical monkey like the one on Hoseok’s keychain except yours was colored blue. Hoseok takes yours and looks at the two of them side by side, smiling to himself.

You lick your lips as you watch him. “It’s, like, so lame, right?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok says, laughing. He turns to you, still smiling.  “But I love it.”

He leans over, kissing your cheek. Before you could process what just happened, Hoseok already pulled back and was digging in his pocket for his keys, attaching his new keychain on it. You stare at him opened mouth, as the blush creeps up your face, but he doesn’t look at you. You wonder what he is thinking about. He stands up after, shrugging his coat on, his face blank. “I should go. I’ve kept you up long enough.”

“Okay.”

You stand up as well, seeing him off.

He opens the window, “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Hoseok.” You say, touching his arm. You feel him shiver under your touch.  “Oh, and happy birthday.”

Finally, Hoseok looks back at you with a smile. And then he is climbing out your window. You watch him, hoping he won’t fall and break his neck. You sigh with relief when he lands on the ground safe.

He waves when he gets on the side walk, and you wave goodbye back. Hoseok then raises his arms in the air and connects his hands on the top of his head, making a heart. You giggle, using your hands to make a small heart back.

You fall asleep with your heart feeling like it’s about to burst.

* * *

[ **March** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D7uEBuqkkQRk&t=ODZmN2ZmNTZmNzBkZTBjNzk2MGRmNjNlNzVmNzEzOTg3NDkxYTFkYSxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

It’s 6 AM on a Saturday morning when your dad shakes your sleeping form, telling you that Hoseok is waiting for you out front.

Covering your head with your pillow, you groan sleepily, "Tell that wastoid that it’s too early, dad. Unlike people with ugly faces like him, I take my beauty sleep seriously.”

You hear your dad chuckling, “Why do I feel like that insult was towards me too?”

“’Cause it was.”

Your dad starts trying to pull your blanket off you, chanting ‘wake up’; but you were stubborn, pulling it back to yourself. You groan some more, not wanting to get up.

“Come on, what he came over to show is pretty cool, if I do say so myself,” your dad says, giving up on his first strategy. You peek out from under your pillow at your dad, eyebrow raised in curiosity. “What is it?”

✦ ✧✦

Still in your PJ pants with cute puppies on it and your father’s puffy winter vest, you head out to your front lawn to see Hoseok leaning proudly on his newly-painted green Ford Cortina MKIII. Your eyes almost bulged out their sockets in excitement, and you run to your best friend with a huge smile.

“You finally fixed it? When?”

“My dad has work off today, so we spent all last night working on it.”

The car Hoseok’s parents gifted to him wasn’t in top condition so his father suggested for them to fix it up together, an opportunity for more father-son bonding, which Hoseok happily agreed with. A cool new car and more time to hang out with his cool dad? Hoseok thought it was the best birthday present ever – other than the keychain he got from you, of course.

“It’s beautiful,” you say in awe, as you run your hands on the car.

“She’s beautiful,” Hoseok corrects you He sighs, wrapping his arms as best as he could around the car. “I love you, Belinda CAR-lisle.”

He turns to you, raising his eyebrows up and down as a silent ‘get it?’. You choke out a laugh, of course he would name his car after her.

Hoseok opens the passenger car door. “Hop in.”

“Are you sure Belinda would want me riding her? I’m, like,  _so_  Team Jane,” you say. Hoseok shakes his head, still in disbelief that you think that from the broken up girl group, The Go-Go’s, you thought that Jane was the stand out star instead of Belinda. He doesn’t understand how you could get it so, so wrong. It’s something that the two of you argue about constantly.

Hoseok sighs, “You know, I think for you, Belinda will make an exception. So get in already before she changes her mind!”

You look down on at your outfit and then back at him. “Let me, like, change at least.”

He rolls his eyes, trying to lightly push you into the car. “What for? You look great!”

It sounded like a joke, but he seems genuine about it. You sit in the passenger seat, confused. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Hoseok says, ruffling your already messy hair before closing the door and walking around to the driver’s seat, whistling happily. You catch your reflection on the rear view mirror, your face was beet red.

✦ ✧✦

Bliss. That’s what you feel. It’s hard not to feel it when you’re riding with your best friend in his new car and he is belting out the words to every song they play on the radio looking so, so happy. And although he was a pretty terrible driver, and you feel like you might die any second; you don’t care because you’re with him. He is driving you around with no destination in mind, and you’re pretty sure that there’s a street that you passed several times already; but you don’t care because you’re thinking that you’ll follow him anywhere.

You realize – as Hoseok is pounding on the dashboard when his favorite song reached its climax, and he is making his hand into a fist for you to sing into like a microphone, and then the blinding smile on his face when you do – you realize that you can’t deny it any longer. The feelings you have for him surpasses like…

You’ve fallen in love with your best friend.

Then he is looking at the watch on his wrist and he tells you he has plans to meet up with Jennie in half an hour. With a tight smile, you tell him that he shouldn’t keep her waiting. Then he is dropping you off at your front lawn and is driving away to pick up his girlfriend at her house. You watch until his car turns and you can’t see it anymore. You wonder if they’ll be doing what you and Hoseok had just done. Driving aimlessly around the neighborhood, singing without a care in the world. But there will be a few difference…Instead of microphone hands, Hoseok will be holding Jennie’s hand throughout the ride; she can lean over to kiss him when he belts out a particularly cheesy line in a song; when she points to something out the window, Hoseok will say, ‘babe, that’s so cool!’; and when Hoseok accidently drives through a red light, Jennie can say ‘Hoseok, you know I love you but please stop doing that,’ which he will reply, ‘Aw, I love you too’. As those scenarios run around in your head, you realize why you denied it in the first place.

Your best friend isn’t in love with you back.

✦ ✧✦

On Tuesdays, the movie theatre downtown sells tickets for only two dollars and there was a new John Hughes movie that you and Suzy have been dying to see, so it was a perfect opportunity to go see it. Some Kind of Wonderful started out fine. Eric Stoltz is a babe and Mary Stuart Masterson is an even finer babe. The music was good and the jokes were quite hilarious. But then halfway into the film, you started to get uncomfortable, because Mary Stuart’s character is totally in love with Eric Stoltz’s character, her best friend; you can see it in her eyes, it was like the way you look at Hoseok.

You leave the theatre angry.

“Stop walking so fast!” Suzy says, trying to catch up to you. Her hand finally got a hold of your arm, and she tugs at it to make you stop. “What’s your deal? I thought it was, like, a cute movie.”

A frustrated huff leaves your mouth, as you stomp on the ground like a child.

“They made a movie about my life and then they put a disclaimer saying it’s not based on real people or real events, so now I can’t even, like, sue them!” You say through sniffles.

“Well… Technically, they’re right. I mean Mary Stuart gets with Eric Stoltz in the end, and you and Hobi….Well…” Suzy trails off and you glare angrily at her. Laughing at your reaction, Suzy pats your head. “Look, the only reason you two aren’t together is because he’s with Jennie. It’s just bad timing, that’s all.”

You shake your head; you don’t quite agree with her. “He will never fall in love with me, even if he wasn’t with Jennie.”

“That’s not true! Why do you think that?”

“Because… I’m…” You look up, trying to find the right words. You realized you only needed one. “Me.”

“What? How could you say that?” Suzy asks, getting pissed off at how self-deprecating you are.

“Like,” you take a deep breath, hating how dramatic you’re being, but you couldn’t help it. “How could he love someone whose every other word to him is, like, an insult? Or like, someone who gets mad at him over the stupidest thing? Like… I don’t even…”

You didn’t even notice that the tears had started spilling until you tasted the salt on your tongue. You touched your face, confused as you feel it’s wet. “Suzy… Look at me, I’m, like, crying. Why am I crying? I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” Suzy says as she pulls you into a hug. You didn’t even care that you were in the middle of the busy sidewalk and people were walking by, staring at you. You just had to cry it all out in the comfort of your best friend’s arms. Your heart hurts so, so much.

“I have to get over him, Suze,” you wail; tears and snot running down your face now. “I, like, have to.”

* * *

[ **April** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dw6Q3mHyzn78&t=ZWE3MjJhMTg5NmM3MTIyMzkzZDBjMjM5ZWRiOTc2MzQzM2E3YTA5YyxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

In the last few months, you started getting a massive amount of letters in the mail – all of them acceptance letters to all the school you’ve applied to: Harvard, Princeton, Edinburgh, Zurich, Singapore, Tokyo, and many more.

But you’ve already made up your mind a long time ago, you’re going Seoul National University – the same school your mother went to.

Your dad decided that he is going to take you out one weekend to tour the campus, before you make any final decisions.

“Hon, I want you to make sure that it’s the right school for you,” He tells you the day you received the letter. “It’s a great school but I don’t want you to think you have to choose it because your mother went there.”

So on the Saturday of the third week of April, you and your dad finally take the drive from Gwangju to Seoul. Arriving a little after 2 PM, all the tours the school provided was already finished – making you and your father wander aimlessly around the campus without a guide to tell you what’s what and where’s where.

The two of you must have looked so confused because a young man actually approaches you to ask if you needed any help.

“Hey, is there anything I could help you guys with?” He asks, a friendly smile on his face. You almost drop the map you were holding when you saw him – he was absolutely drop, dead gorgeous. He looked a few years older than you, his black hair combed back and his clothes fit deliciously snug on his tall and muscular body.

“Actually, that would be great! Thanks,” your dad say happily. Motioning for you to open up the map, your dad points to the building that the two of you spent half an hour looking for. “We’re looking for the sports center.”

“Oh yeah, no problem! That’s…”

As he explains the directions to the building – go up ahead, turn right here, left at that street, cross the road here, go down a couple of stairs, go up a couple of stairs – the confusion piles on and on.

“I can show you around,” the stud suggests after looking at you and your dad’s faces and you quickly nod in agreement.  You realize just how embarrassingly quick you agreed to it, blushing bright red; your dad chuckles and the stud has an amused smile on his face.

“Sure, if it’s, like, not an inconvenience for you…” You say, shrugging your shoulders to seem a bit cool and nonchalant.

“No inconvenience at all, I’m the one who suggested it. I’m Taecyeon, by the way,” he says, shaking your dad’s hand.

Your dad introduces himself first; and then Taecyeon is looking at you, grinning.

“This is my older sister,” your dad jokes before you can say anything, making you roll your eyes but Taecyeon actually laughs. Your dad is still laughing at the joke he made when he adds, “No, I’m just kidding. This is my daughter, Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you,” you say, shaking his hand when he offers it to you.

Taecyeon flashes you a smile that could rival Tom Cruise’s, and you almost swoon on the spot. “Nice to meet you too.”

Taecyeon leads your father and you around the Seoul National University campus, pointing out buildings and streets with thorough information about them. He even talks about the shops and restaurants with cute little comment – ‘they make the best burgers, but don’t  _ever_ get the burritos and  _never_  go into the washroom’, ‘terrible customer service – he ran me out with a broom’, ‘talk to her about Golden Girls and rag on Betty White, and she’ll probably give you free coffee for life’, ‘all they play in there is Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together and Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, I love that place’.

Taecyeon talks a little about himself; he is a 2 nd  year Psychology student and he works as a bartender at one of the restaurants on campus. You tell him that you got accepted for the bioengineering program, and then your father continued to boast about all your other achievements and acceptance letters. You wanted to crawl under a rock but Taecyeon was receptive – interested even – in learning more about you.

The impromptu tour ends right outside of his workplace.

“Hey, I can get you guys food if you’re hungry,” Taecyeon says, smiling. “On the house, of course.”

“Sounds good, man,” your dad exclaims.

You bite your lip, wanting so bad to go but there’s a place you haven’t seen yet that you desperately wanted to see. “Why don’t you go ahead, dad, I wanted to go check out the garden.”

“Oh, I could take you there,” Taecyeon says. He chuckles, embarrassed. “I should have asked what else you wanted to see like a good tour guide would.”

“Um… Are you sure?”

“Yeah, and then we could come back here after and you’ll still get that free meal,” Taecyeon says, looking between you and your father with a broad smile on his beautiful, sculpted face.

You smile, nodding. “Awesome.”

“Hey, why don’t you two go and I’ll just wait here for you,” your dad says. “My feet are tired already and I could really use a beer right now.”

Your eyebrow rises suspiciously. Your father hasn’t drunk a drop of alcohol in years.

“Yeah, sure, it’s not far from here so we won’t be long,” Taecyeon says. He turns to you, a bit shy all of the sudden. “If that okay with you, of course?”

“Yeah, totally,” You say, shrugging again. You wave goodbye to your dad as Taecyeon uses his arm to point you the direction the two of you are heading next.

“Oh, and Taecyeon?” Your father’s voice stopping the both of you on your tracks.

Taecyeon looks at your father, eyes wide. “Yes, sir?”

“You seem like a good guy and someone I would approve to date my daughter, but no funny business.”

“DAD!” You yell, feeling yourself burning up. While Taecyeon nods, straightening up. “Of course, sir. No funny business.”

Your dad nods in approval, giving you a thumbs up before entering the restaurant, leaving you and Taecyeon all alone.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry about that,” you saying, covering your red cheeks, trying to calm yourself down. “Please believe me when I say that my dad doesn’t usually, like, play wingman for me.”

Taecyeon finally seems to have relaxed, now that your father is nowhere in sight, and he starts to laugh. “It’s fine… Uh, actually, I’m relieved that he approves of me.”

You didn’t know what to say, Taecyeon’s ruining your usual cool and flirty demeanor around guys you think are cute. He was different.

When you don’t say anything, he coughs awkwardly. “Let’s, uh, go?”

You could only nod.

✦ ✧✦

The garden at the university campus was absolutely beautiful, even if most of the flowers haven’t quite bloomed yet. As you and Taecyeon walk through the path, you both take turns pointing out the flowers each of you like.

At last, you find the spot in the garden that you were looking for, the gazebo. From your purse, you pull out an old photograph. You hold up it up to compare to what you’re seeing in real life and smile. In the picture there were five young women candidly laughing; your mother, Hoseok’s mother, Suzy’s mother, Taehyung’s mother, and Park Jimin’s mother. The photograph captured the first time they all met at the University’s freshman day celebration, strangers that will soon become the best of friends. It’s one of your favorite pictures that you have of your mother, she looked so happy.

Taecyeon peeks over your shoulder and points to your mom.  “Hey, you’ve been here before!”

You laugh. “That’s my mom.”

“I don’t know why that didn’t even cross my mind first, the picture is clearly from a decade or two ago,” Taecyeon says, shaking his head. “So your mom is an alumna here?”

“Yeah.”

“Was she busy today?”

You shake your head. “She’s, um… She passed away when I was seven.”

“Oh,” Taecyeon says, eyes widening. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you say, smiling at him to lighten the mood. You place the picture back in your bag as you begin to walk towards the gazebo. You sit on the stone bench inside and Taecyeon chooses to lean on one of the columns, arms crossed.

“So how do you like the school?” He asks.

“I love it. It’s beautiful,” you tell him, a wide smile gracing your face. With your fingers, you begin to count the things you liked about. “The labs look really nice, you guys have like the newest computers, the pool is huge, all the food places look great, and…”

You blush, looking up at Taecyeon. “The students here are really amazing and kind.”

Taecyeon is blushing now too, looking down with a smile. He joins you on the bench, and gazes into your eyes. “Then you’ll fit right in.”

You stay at the gazebo for a couple more minutes, before Taecyeon suggest to walk further along the path. As the sun starts to set, more and more couples started to show up at the garden, romantically walking hand-in-hand. You and Taecyeon look around noticing it and at the same time, you look at each other, an awkward laugh leaving both your lips.

“Should we head back?” Taecyeon asks.

“Yeah.”

The two of you walk back to the restaurant, the conversations flowing freely now unlike how it was an hour ago. And now that you’re more comfortable around Taecyeon, you’re back to being your usual sassy and flirty self.

“Y/N,” Taecyeon says, stopping you with a hand on your shoulders, just as you were about to open the door to the restaurant. You look back at him, blinking as you tilt your head to the side. His hand leaves your shoulder and to the back of his neck, apprehension evident. “Before we go in… I wanted to ask for your number, I’m not sure I’ll have the nerve to do it in front of your dad.”

You laugh, nodding, hands shaking in excitement as you reach into your purse for a pen and paper. You quickly write down your number and place it in his hand. You smile up at him.

“You better use it, Ok Taecyeon,” You say, teasingly. “I don’t just, like, give my number to anyone who asks.”

He smiles wide. “I will.”

* * *

[ **May** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzwGeMYBGffs&t=ZjNhYjQ1YjU3YzQxMThmNmM4M2YwNjc0MDBmOWRlZDQ5NTcyMGU3YSxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

May goes by quickly. It’s probably because school is so busy and hectic - you even had to quit your job at the pool so you’ll be able to breathe once in a while.

You spend most of the month with Jeonghan and his friends Lee Hyeri and Jackson Wang; forming a study group so you’ll be able ace your final exams like the dweebs you all are (Taehyung’s words, not yours). And you were also informed that you’ll be the valedictorian, so you’ll have to write a speech on top of everything else happening. You were completely swamped to say the least.

One night as you were having dinner with your family, the phone rings and interrupts Hyejeong’s daily spiel of which boys at her university she thinks has crushes on her – you silently thank all the gods you can think of and whoever is calling. Your stepmother is the one to leave table to the answer the phone.

“Oh, hello Sooyoung, how are you?… I’m great, thank you… No, we’re just having dinner, it’s fine… Oh, okay… Yes, of course, here she is.” Your stepmom motions you to come over and when you do, she hands you the phone.

“Hi Sooyoung,” You say when you get the phone. “What’s up?”

“Hey Y/N, sorry to bother you…” You hear Hoseok’s sister sigh. “… But can you come over? It’s Hoseok.”

✦ ✧✦

It takes you 15 minutes to get to Hoseok’s house, and by the time you get there you were red in the face, panting out of breath, and so unbelievably worried. Sooyoung was waiting for you by the front door with Mrs. Jung.

“Y/N, you didn’t have to run here!” their mom says, pulling you into a hug.

Coughing, you say, “I wanted to get here as fast as I can. Is he still in his room?”

Sooyoung nods. “Yup, still locked in there, not saying a word.”

They lead you into the house and you all went to the kitchen first. Hoseok’s mom gives you a tray of food to take up to him – he hasn’t eaten all day, she tells you.

Sooyoung accompanies you up the stairs, helping you with the tray and drink. The both of you stop just a few steps away from Hoseok’s bedroom door, and Sooyoung smiles at you. “Hey, thanks for getting here so quickly. I know baby bro will only open the door for my dad or you, and dad’s not coming home until midnight.”

You shrug, smiling back. “It’s fine.”

Sooyoung ruffles your hair. “You’re the greatest friend ever, you know that, right?”

You swallow hard, with a tight smile, feeling a bit guilty. Would the greatest friend miss this? How did you not have noticed?

You walk slowly to Hoseok’s door, balancing the food tray on one arm so you can knock on the door.

“Hoseok, it’s me,” you say when he doesn’t open after a few seconds. You press your ear on the door and hear silence. Frowning, you bang your head lightly on the door, letting your forehead rest on it. “I’m, like, so tempted to eat the red bean bread your mom made. I know it’s your favorite but… It smells  _so_  good. I’m giving you ten seconds, Hoseok, just ten, and then it’s all mine… Ten… nine…eight…”

Finally, the door opens, and Hoseok peeks out; eyes red and clearly distressed.

Your heart sinks at the sight of him, and you feel even worse knowing you just lied to him. You look down, eyes tearing up. “I’m so sorry… Your mom didn’t make any red bean bread…”

You hear Hoseok laugh lightly. “I know.”

You look up and Hoseok is smiling at you, although there’s still sadness obviously weighing him down. He opens the door wider and lets you in. You make your way over to his desk to place the tray of food on it; and in the corner of your eyes, you see his waste basket and all the crumpled up letters thrown in it – the reason for all this.

Hoseok closes the door and sits on his bed, looking at you. You turn towards him and point to the food. “You should eat.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not really hungry.”

You sigh and join him on the bed.

“I can’t believe they made you come over,” Hoseok mumbles.

You flick his forehead. “They didn’t  _make_  me do anything. I wanted to.”

Hoseok nods, and then he is reaching over to his bedside table to grab a piece of paper on it. He passes it to you, and says, “That’s the last of them.”

Your eyes trails over the piece of paper with the Busan University letterhead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> ** _Dear Mr. Jung Hoseok,_ **
> 
> ** _We regret that we are not able to offer you admission to the Mathematical Science Program._ **

You stop reading after that, folding up the piece of paper and placing it beside you.

“You, like, hate math  _and_ science anyways,” you comment.

“That’s true,” he says, laughing a humorless laugh.

“And Yeri would, like, always be checking up on you if you went there,” you tell him, talking about Jimin’s younger sister who has a crush on Hoseok.

Hoseok laughs again, this time it sounded more genuine. “That’s also true.”

And then there was silence – that is until Hoseok’s form starts to shake. You hated seeing Hoseok cry, it never seems right to you. You’re pretty sure that the first time you saw Hoseok cry, you ran back to your mom and his mom, terrified, claiming that the sun is crying. “Mom! Mom! Hoseok is crying! Tell him to stop crying, the sun can’t cry!”

“I’m such an idiot, Y/N,” he chokes out. “I can’t believe not a single school accepted me.” 

“You’re not an idiot,” you insist, tears falling down your face. You take his hand in yours because you didn’t know what else to do. You let him cry on your shoulder, his tears and snot soaking through your favorite shirt, but you didn’t mind. It’s only when Hoseok’s tear dwindled that you start to say what’s on your mind.

“I know I’m like, the last person who should be telling you this because I’m like… a  _major_  dork,” you begin, making Hoseok chuckle. “But it doesn’t make someone a loser if they don’t go to uni, nor does it make someone a winner if they go. Like, my uncle didn’t go to uni and he’s like the coolest guy I know. And you know Jackson isn’t going to uni either? He’s taking a year off to decide what’s really best for him. Let’s see… Who else…”

“Minho,” Hoseok suggests his sister’s boyfriend. 

“Exactly!” You exclaim. “Minho is like super successful, right?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok nods. You stand up to get the tray of food and place it on Hoseok’s lap.

“Eat,” You command, so he does. You go to his waste basket and dig out the rest of the letters. You read through them, shaking your head.

“Chemistry… Physics… Biophysics…” You look at your best friend in disbelief. “Hoseok, you hate all these subjects. If you did get accepted, you would have been miserable.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I applied for those…” He says, stuffing his mouth with rice.

You sit down beside him again, and he shoves food in your mouth. With your mouth full, you say, “I actually thought you would at least apply for one or two dance programs.”

“Dance?”

You nod, swallowing the food before answering. “Yeah, you love to dance and when I visit you at work, you always look like you’re having a blast. And also, you’re, like, so talented at it. That’s why you got to play Danny Zuko in the school musical even though your acting is like, atrocious.”

He scratches the back of his head. “I guess, I never really thought about it like that though.”

“How come?” You ask. “You know Jimin said that’s what he’s applying for next year? His goal is Julliard, and he told me they only accept 12 girls and 12 boys every year. When I heard that I thought you could definitely be one of the 12.”

“Really? You think so?” Hoseok asks, blushing. You nod and finally, the bright smile was back on your best friend’s face.

You can tell that Hoseok is worn-out, his eyelids drooping; so you tell him to lay down as you take the tray away from him and place it back on his desk.

“Y/N,” Hoseok says, trying to look at you with his already half-closed eyes.

“Yeah?” You say as you walk over back to his bed to place the blanket on him.

“Stay tonight?”

Your mouth parts open, heart speeding up, the answer you should say at the tip of your tongue. 

“Please?”

But you can’t deny him. Not when he asks like that, so you find yourself nodding. “Okay, I’ll just call my dad; tell him I’m staying here.”

When you get back to Hoseok’s room, he is already snoring and turned to the side to give you space on the bed. 

“Are you asleep?” You ask, and no answer. You climb in, tucking yourself under the blanket. You sigh, closing your eyes.

Two minutes later, you feel Hoseok turning, facing you. You pretend to be asleep as his hand brushes your hair off your face and behind your ear. “Goodnight, Y/N. Thank you.”

* * *

[ **June** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNYx8IHJ9dWE&t=ZjIyMGY5YTcwYWUzODc4ZTllZWRkMzNhMDE4ZDUxODY4NWM1NWM1NSxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

“…So, Class of 1987, it’s been, like, so fun, and believe me when I say that I do hope to see you all again. Maybe at our 30 th  reunion… Just imagine that, 2017. It’s so far away but I think Madonna will still be the Queen of Pop, right? I mean who could replace her? Like some girl from Houston, Texas? Ha, now that I would like to see! And hopefully ponytails on men will be out of style – sorry Mr. Gong. But what will be next? Man buns? I don’t even want to think about it… and like, there will be little – or teenagers – me’s and you’s running around, wrecking the place. Now  _that’s_ scary to think about. Little Suzy’s and Leo’s… Um…Hopefully, saying that out loud doesn’t, like, jinx their relationship. Sorry Suze.

That being said, thank you for listening me ramble on for like, 10 minutes. I’m, like, really proud to be graduating with such an incredible group of people.”

The audience begin to applause standing up as you concluded your speech. Most of your classmates had teary eyes at how amazing it was. You walk off to the side of the stage as the principal takes the podium after you. Across from you, standing at the other entrance to the stage, Hoseok smiles widely while also giving you two thumbs up.

“Thank you, Ms. Y/N. That was a beautiful speech, I didn’t expect anything less,” the principal says, smiling. “And before I conclude the ceremony, we have a special treat for you all. Back by popular demand, for one last performance, the Greased Lightning boys!”

One by one, each of the boys that played a role as one of the five main boys in the musical Grease that your school held performances for during November just last year, walks out on stage. The first one out was Oh Sehun who played Putzie, then Taehyung comes out waving like a dork as Sonny, next was Park Jinyoung as Doody, and after him it was Kim Jongin who played Kenickie, and then – earning the most cheers as he was the star of the show along with Son Seungwan who played Sandy – out comes Hoseok, rocking a leather jacket like the other boys, channeling his inner Danny Zuko once more as he coolly strides to the front of the stage.

They begin the starting dialogue about the car; you laugh cringing because like you’ve said before, Hoseok did not get the part because of his acting. Then the cardboard car that was placed behind the five boys falls to the ground making the audience laugh. The boys aren’t bothered though, continuing their performance like nothing had happened.

“Why this car could be systemic,” Hoseok says, looking at the sad fallen car with an exaggerate frown on his face, making the audience laugh again. The music starts.

“Hydromatic,” Hoseok sings, taking off his leather jacket, shirtsleeves rolled up and showing off his toned, muscular arms. The ladies’ screams were deafening.

“Ultramatic!” He throws his leather jacket at the crowd, winking.

“Why it could be Greased Lightning!”

And just like that – the rocky start and faulty car prop was forgotten. The boys commanded the stage with their amazing presence, dancing and singing in ways that has everyone awed and cheering. From the side of the stage, you clap along with the music, smiling broadly. You must have seen Taehyung and Hoseok perform this number a million times already, but you still find the way they move amazing.

When they finish the performance, the boys take a bow as the audience gives them a standing ovation. As they run off stage, the other boys pass by congratulating you on your speech while Taehyung and Hoseok stick around, trapping you in a group hug.

“Ew, you’re both sticky and gross!” You say, but your arms are also wrapped around them.

“Y/N, your speech made me cry,” Taehyung cries.

“Me too!” Hoseok chimes in.

You roll eyes, as you smile. “Come on, dweebs, we have to get back to our seats.”

✦ ✧✦

As you and rest of your classmates throw your graduation caps up into the air, the whole ceremony hall erupts in loud cheers. Suzy - who you sat beside - hugs you tightly, placing a glossy red kiss on your cheek. You laugh, placing a bright fuchsia pink kiss on hers back.

The two of you walk hand-in-hand to the back of the room where the rest of your friends and family wait for you.

“Jiminnie!” Suzy exclaims when she sees the blond haired boy talking to Taehyung, and you both run to your long-distance best friend to crush him into a bone-crushing embrace.

“You said you weren’t coming!” you say, frowning. “You lied to me, Park Jimin, how, like, dare you?”

Jimin chuckles. “I wanted it to be a surprise!”

As you and Suzy crowd her older brother, Yeri pouts. “Am I invisible? I’m here too!”

Suzy bends down to squeeze her cheeks. “Aww, my cute little Yeri. How are you, sweetgums?”

“I’m not little!” Yeri insists, and then she flutters her eyelashes at Hoseok. “I’m in 7 th  grade next year, just so everyone here knows…”

You giggle, while Hoseok blanches, and Jennie gives her boyfriend a teasing smirk. “Is there something I should know, Hoseok?”

Hoseok shakes his head quickly. “Nope. Nada. Nothing.”

Jennie reaches up to cradle his cheeks, and then kisses him firmly on his lips. There’s gold bracelet with silver heart charms on her wrist, and you know that it’s Hoseok’s graduation present to her – you helped him pick it out. You look away, smiling sadly.

“I think my heart just broke,” Yeri mutters out loud, making everyone laugh. You chuckle along with them, but you wanted to add after her, ‘me too, Yeri, me too…’

✦ ✧✦

Courtesy of all your parents, you and your friends celebrate at a karaoke bar. It was you, Hoseok, Taehyung, Suzy, Jimin, Leo, Jennie, Jeonghan, Jackson, Hyeri, and a couple of Jennie’s cheerleading friends and a couple of Leo’s football friends (Yes, Wonho was there and yes, he is still awkward around you). By the second hour, the karaoke room pretty much turned into a hotbox – thanks to Taehyung and his endless supply of weed. And then you’re stumbling out the room coughing before you can even take your turn to sing. You yell ‘thanks a lot, jerk!’ at Taehyung before you close the door behind you; you were really looking forward to belting your heart out to Heart’s newest hit single ‘Alone’.

You make you way outside to get some fresh air, the night wind was cool and pleasant. You close your eyes, breathing it all in with a smile on your face.

Hoseok comes out a little bit after you, opening his mouth to make a cheeky comment. But then he sees you like that, so at peace and looking so beautiful, the words escape him.

You slowly open your eyes, feeling someone else’s presence and turning towards the source.

“Hoseok?” You ask, head tilting as you catch him staring at you. He clears his throat, scratching his nose, feeling embarrassed for being caught.

“Uh… I just wanted to check how you are…”

He stands beside you and you both look at the view of the city lights ahead.

You shake your head. “I swear, Taehyung has, like, all the money in the world and he is still buying the shittiest kind of weed.”

Hoseok laughs. “Yeah, well that’s ‘cause he has a crush on his dealer.”

“I know, but can’t that Yoongi guy get, like, better weed?” You ask, knowing that Hoseok doesn’t have the answer. Hoseok just shrugs, shaking his head.

“Oh, now that I have you alone,” Hoseok says, taking out a box from his hideous neon windbreaker. “Here.”

You take it from him slowly, giving him a wary look. “What’s this?”

“I give you a present and you look at me like that?” Hoseok asks, pretending to be offended. “I’m hurt, Y/N.”

You scrunch up your face. “It’s just, like, so rare for you to be nice to me.”

It’s a lie, you both know it, especially when you stick your tongue out at him.

“Now, I’m really hurt,” Hoseok says, throwing his arm around you. “Just open it, you little shit.”

Huffing, you untangle the ribbon on the box and open it up. You gasp when you see what’s inside, you know it very well.

“Isn’t this your mom’s locket?”

“Yeah, but it’s been passed down the family for generations,” Hoseok says, nonchalantly. “My grandma had it before her, and then my grandma’s mother before my grandma, and then… Well, you get it.”

“I can’t take this,” you say, trying to shove the box back to Hoseok but he won’t have it. “Shouldn’t Sooyoung have this?”

“Nope, oldest daughter gets the ring and the youngest daughter get the necklace,” Hoseok explains. “And since I’m the blessed child, the first boy born in the Choi family line in centuries, I sadly cannot take the necklace, no matter how pretty I think it is.”

He nudges your arm. “And you know my family thinks of you as their second daughter. My mom and sister were practically glowing when I asked if I could give it to you.”

You look down smiling, the happiness blooming inside you. Admiring the locket some more, you look at Hoseok with worry. “Are you, like, really, really sure I can have this?”

Hoseok rolls his eyes playfully. “It’s yours, Y/N. Besides, no one else would want it now. Open it.”

You do as he says and what you see inside the oval shaped locket was a picture of you and Hoseok on the first day you met, at the tender age of five.  You smile, eyes tearing up. “Aw… We were, like, so adorable.”

“Yeah, what happened?”

You glare at him as best as you could in your happy state.

“I meant me, what happened to me?” Hoseok says.

“I still don’t want to hear that, Hoseok,” You tell him. “You’re  _fine_.”

You realize how that sounded, and quickly explain yourself. “Like fine as in you’re okay looking. Not like, oh boy you’re so  _fine,_ fine.”

He snorts out a laugh. “I get it, don’t worry.”

Hoseok bites his lip, taking the necklace from you. “Can I put it on for you?”

You nod, turning away from him, lifting your hair up and out of the way.

You didn’t see it, but Hoseok’s hands were trembling as he puts the necklace on you. He curses silently to himself, wondering why they were.

When you feel it secured around your neck, you turn back to your best friend, looking down as you admire the locket once again.

“It looks perfect,” Hoseok says, smiling brightly, a sunshine in the middle of the night. You smile back, your heart beating erratically.

And as the two of you go back into the karaoke room, Jennie waving Hoseok over to her - the gold and silver on her wrist sparkling even in the low-lit room – you touch the locket around your neck, thinking you had received something so much better.

* * *

[ **July** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4vaTo0RHq7A&t=NjA3YWExMmMwNTE1OTk0NDIyZjYxNjc5ZmE4OTk4MGYwZTJiMTM0ZixydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

You spend the first week of July tanning, swimming, surfing, and drinking pina coladas in paradise. Taehyung’s parents flew the five of you – Taehyung, Jimin, Suzy, Hoseok, and you – out to Hawaii for a week as a graduation present.

On the second week of July, the five of you spend a few days in Busan with Jimin’s family. You all go fishing with Jimin’s dad, take his sister to the aquarium, garden with his mother, and help out at his grandparents’ shop at the market.

You work at a car wash on the third week. Taehyung drops by several times, each time with a different car from his garage, checking out all the pretty girls you work with getting wet and soapy. On the fourth day, you tell him to take a hike and ask out his dealer already so he’ll stop creeping around – he takes your advice and he scores a date. Hoseok also stops by with his precious Belinda Carlisle once, and he tips you a measly dollar when you’re done – and had the audacity to give it to you with a wink as he says  _‘since you did so well’_. You also tell him never to come back.

And by the fourth week, you didn’t have much planned and was just lazily laying around in your house, bored to death. It was Thursday when that changed.

“Y/N, that guy that sounds, like, really hot is on the phone for you again,” Hyejeong says, barging in your room. “Taeyang or something like that?”

“Taecyeon?” You ask, perking up from your bed.

“Yeah, him.”

You quickly get up to go downstairs where the phone is with Hyejeong following you. “Oh my god, sis, you’re like so excited! Is he, like, your boyfriend?”

“No, Hye, at least not, like, yet.”

“Good to know, so I could still like take him from you,” Hyejeong muses. And when you glare at her, she laughs. “God, I’m joking, sis! Take, like, a chill pill!”

She leaves you alone as you pick up the phone, her eyebrows raising up and down as she walks away.

“Taecyeon?” You ask as you press the phone to your ear.

“Hey Y/N! How are you?”

You smile instantly, hearing his voice. Ever since the day you met and you gave him your number, Taecyeon has been calling you at least once a week like he said he would.

“I’m great! Bored… but great! Um… How are you? How was your 10K?”

Taecyeon sighs, sounding tired. “Killer, absolutely killer. But it was for charity so it’s okay that my legs are killing me… How about you, how was the car wash job?”

“Never again,” you say, laughing. “Too many pervs.”

Taecyeon laughs. “Yeah, I would imagine so… Uh hey… I told you about my aunt that lives in Gwangju right?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m actually visiting her right now…”

Your eyes widen. “You mean you’re here? Right now?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I just got here this morning.”

“That’s, like, so great,” you say, getting excited.

“Yeah… I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out with me—“

“Of course!”

“Yeah? Really?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, great,” Taecyeon pauses. Although you can’t see him, you have an inkling that he is smiling as wide as you are right now. “What do you want to do? I’m not really familiar with the places around here.”

“There’s actually a fair in town this month,” you say, twirling the phone cord around your fingers, already fantasizing the things you could do there together. Like Taecyeon winning you a giant fluffy teddy bear, feeding each other funnel cakes and hot dogs, and kissing him at the very top of the Ferris wheel. “We could, like, go tonight, if that’s, like, cool with you?”

✦ ✧✦

You get ready for your date, choosing to wear your high waisted jean shorts and the black The Rolling Stones shirt you stole from Jimin when you visited him. At exactly 8 PM, your dad knocks on your door squealing, “Honey, Taecyeon is here! He looks as cool and as handsome as I remember!”

You roll your eyes, smiling. Your dad definitely approves of Taecyeon.

You step out into your front porch, and the sight of Taecyeon makes you lose your breath and stop in your tracks. Standing beside his red BMW E30 M3, hands stuffed in his jean pockets, hair coiffed up – Taecyeon reminded you of Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles, AKA your fictional crush ever since the movie came out in 84. Expect Taecyeon was different, he is real.

You jog up to him, and he is pointing at his shirt and yours. “We match!”

You look down laughing. “Yeah, we do!”

Taecyeon shyly opens up his arms, and you shake your head giggling, before wrapping your arms around him. He smelled like bergamot and jasmine, you couldn’t get enough.

When the two of you part, he opens the passenger door like a gentleman. “Shall we?”

You nod. “We shall.”

✦ ✧✦

The first thing that you and Taecyeon do after your pay for your entrance to the fair was get cotton candy, of course. As you both ate the sweet treat, you bounced ideas back and forth for which rides you wanted to go on. On top of your list was the Ferris Wheel while Taecyeon wanted to go on the drop tower.

“Y/N!” You heard a girl call out your name as you were telling him how unsafe it probably was. You twirled around to see Jennie waving enthusiastically at you, her arm around Hoseok’s – who was looking between you and boy at your side, puzzled.

Jennie runs to you, pulling Hoseok with her. She turns to Hoseok. “I told you it was her! How could you not even recognize your own best friend, you airhead!”

“Wow, Hoseok,” you say to Hoseok, then you turn to Jennie. “Did you guys just get here?”

“No, we’ve been here for an hour already but we haven’t been on any rides yet though because of  _someone_  here…” Jennie says, side-eyeing Hoseok.

“We went on that teacup ride!” Hoseok reminds her. He then clears his throat turning to Taecyeon. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, this is Taecyeon,” you introduced you date with a big smile. “He’s a student at Seoul National University. We met when I toured the campus. Taecyeon, these are my friends, Hoseok and Jennie.”

“Nice to meet you,” Taecyeon says, shaking Jennie’s hand. When it was Hoseok’s turn, your best friend gave Taecyeon a shake more akin to a death grasp, making Taecyeon chuckle. “Whoa, that’s a strong handshake you have there, my friend.”

“Yeah, I work out,” Hoseok replies, a bit aggressively. He straightens his back, trying to match his height to Taecyeon’s, but still sadly a couple inches shorter. “I can lift, like, 400 pounds.”

“That’s… tubular, man, just awesome,” Taecyeon says, his head may be nodding but he was somewhat confused at the facts being thrown at him. You were too, Hoseok was being a little bit odd.

“You two match!” Jennie says suddenly, her eyes on yours and Taecyeon’s shirt.

You giggle and so does Taecyeon.

“Completely coincidence,” you say, and Jennie’s mouth widens into a smile.

“That’s so cute! Right, Hoseok?” She asks her boyfriend.

Hoseok shrugs, frowning. “I mean… I guess?”

Jennie then suggests something that has Hoseok’s eyes’ bulging out. “We should all stick together. Like a double date!”

You turn to Taecyeon and he’s looking at you, grinning. “It’s cool with me if it’s cool with you.”

“Okay, yeah, it’ll be fun!” You say to Jennie and she claps her hand excitedly.

“Which ride should we go on first?”

✦ ✧✦

Halfway through the date, Taecyeon gets the courage to slip his hand into yours smoothly. You look up at him smiling but he is looking away, whistling innocently. With your other hand, you slap his arm playfully, and he winks at you. Hoseok watches the whole scene, biting the inside of his cheek and eyes slightly narrowed, and feeling… Jealous? He shakes his head. No, he can’t be.

So why did he find himself competing with Taecyeon? When Taecyeon won you that stuffed cat plushie, Hoseok had to one up him and win a bigger one for Jennie – $30 dollars later. When Taecyeon got you a single scoop ice-cream cone, he got Jennie a triple scoop one – even though he knows Jennie is lactose intolerant. When Taecyeon chose the second cart for the rollercoaster, Hoseok chose the front – big mistake, he hated every second of it.

It was so childish, and Hoseok knows it. But for some reason, he couldn’t stop.

There’s an announcement over the speakers that the fair will be closed in 15 minutes, making you gasp in shock.

“We still haven’t been on the Ferris wheel!” You exclaim, pouting.

“If we run there, we can probably make it,” Taecyeon suggests.

Jennie takes the lead, already running towards the direction of the Ferris wheel. “Yeah, come on!”

You all sprint after her, but as you get to the ride, it seems like they’re already turning people away.

“It’s closed,” the bored looking ride attendant mumbles when you all reach the entrance. “Sorry.”

You point to him, recognizing him. “I know you! You’re Yoongi!”

He raises an eyebrow, looking down on his nametag, and then back at you. “Yeah? And?”

You smile sweetly. “We’ve met before, I’m one of Taehyung’s friends.”

“Oh,” Yoongi mumbles again, but he seems to have perked up slightly. “Yeah, I remember you. You’re the one that likes Purple… No, Girl Scout Cookies. Right?”

Hoseok coughs to hide his laughter. You glare are him before turning back to Yoongi. “Yup, that’s me! So… As like, a few of Taehyung’s closest friends, can you like let us on the ride? Pretty please?”

Yoongi looks around, thinking. He then sighs, nodding. “But you’ll all have to fit in one cabin. Mingyu will kill me if he has to stay another 10 minutes.”

“No problem!”

Yoongi motions for the ride operator to unlock one more cabin. You all thank him as you pass by to go to the platform, while he just rolls his eyes with a shrug.

“Hoseok, are you sure you want to get on?” You ask your best friend concerned, before you get in the cabin, knowing that the rollercoaster already took a toll on him. Hoseok has a huge fear of heights.

“Yeah, of course!” He says with a bright smile. He lets out a  _psh_. “You think I’m afraid or something?”

You shake your head, not understanding why he is being stubborn. “No, but I think you’re, like, going to hurl all over your girlfriend. But like, suit yourself.”

You get on the cabin sitting beside Taecyeon, while Jennie and Hoseok sit across from the two of you. Taecyeon’s arm immediately slings over your shoulder when you settled down, making you giggle. Hoseok copies his action, doing the same to Jennie, but accidently hits her face because he was looking more at you then at her. Jennie raises her eyebrow with a ‘what are you doing?’ look on her face. All Hoseok could do was say sorry, deciding to just place his hands between his parted knees.

At the top of the Ferris wheel, you look down at the pretty lights of the fair in awe. You point out the heart-shaped lights on the roof of the Merry-Go-Round, flashing your favorite color. You smile wide at that, eyes sparkling because of the bright lights. You didn’t notice the two boys gazing at you.

“It’s so pretty,” you say, turning to Taecyeon. He was staring at you, with a grin on his face.

“Yeah, it is…”

And then Taecyeon is leaning down to give you a kiss on your lips.

Hoseok watches, perplexed, stomach dropping. He couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.

Hoseok doesn’t hurl, but he definitely feels some kind of sick.

✦ ✧✦

Hoseok takes Jennie home in Belinda after the date, the whole ride home totally quiet. He parks in front of her house and when he was about to open his door to walk her to front door, she stops him with a hand on his arm.

“Hoseok…” Jennie says, forlornly. He turns to her, confusion on his face, but he thinks he knows what’s coming. “I think we should break up.”

“Jennie, what? Wh-“

“You love Y/N, don’t you?”

Hoseok looks down, feeling upset with himself that he couldn’t even deny it. Jennie was so amazing and here he is, breaking her heart.

Jennie fidgets with the gold and silver bracelet around her wrist, trying to keep the tears from falling. “I think I’ve known for a while… Maybe, I even knew before we started going out… But I really liked you and I wanted you to really like me too.”

“I do really like you,” Hoseok says.

“But not the way that you like her…” Jennie replies. Another bout of silence fills the air, and all Hoseok could hear is Jennie’s sniffling, it hurts his heart.

“Maybe if you hurry, you could still win her over?” Jennie suggests with a sad smile. “It was only their first date after all…”

“I don’t know,” He says, shrugging. Then he looks at her, utmost sincerity in his brown eyes. “I… I’m really sorry Jennie.”

She nods with a tight smile, opening the passenger door. As she gets out, Hoseok calls her name.

“All the times I told you I loved you, I meant it,” Hoseok tells her.

Jennie smiles wide, tears falling freely now. “I know. Goodnight Hoseok.”

✦ ✧✦

Hoseok couldn’t go home after that, he had too much on his mind. He then finds himself just driving around and around the cul-de-sac of your street before finally parking in front of your house. He sees the light in your bedroom is still on, probably writing in your diary about the events of the night like a love-sick teenager. He chuckles at the image in his head, until he remembers why you’d be acting like a love-sick teenager.

Jennie’s words echo in his mind. Maybe it’s not too late, maybe he could still win you over.

He gets out his car and jogs to the tree beside your bedroom window, picking up pebbles on the way. It takes only two rocks, and you’re opening up your window, peering down at him.

“Can I come in?” He calls out, but he already feels like it’s a mistake and he should turn around to leave. He sees you give him a thumbs up - too late now.

As he climbs the tree, he is thinking about what he is even going to do. Is he really going to tell you how he feels about you? Just an hour after him and Jennie broke up? Is that even right?

Hoseok climbs into your room and sees that you’re all ready for bed, wearing only a cream silk nightie, and Hoseok freezes, screaming in his head ‘ _whywhywhywhy_ ’. And it’s like you must have read his mind because you slip on a sweater – his sweater that you must have taken from him ages ago – and he thinks that this is somehow worse.

“Did you get Jennie home safe?” you ask.

Hoseok swallows. “Yeah, I did.”

“Good. So what are you doing here?”

“I was just driving around… Thought I’d drop by…” Hoseok trails off, trying to act nonchalant as he picks out a book from your bookself and begins to flip through it. “So that Taecyeon, smooth moves back at the Ferris wheel.”

He looks up at you and nearly drops the book he had in his hands. You were glowing when you tell him, “I think I really like him.”

Hoseok feels like his soul left his body and he is watching himself from up top as he feels the fake smile that spreads on his face, and his mouth starts spitting out things that he didn’t want to say, “That’s great, I’m happy for you! He’s a great guy… I mean I may have only met him today but he seems great, you know? Real stand-up guy, real cool guy.”

“You think so?” You ask, amused at Hoseok’s babbling.

“Yup!” Hoseok says, laughing loudly.

“Shhh! You’re going to, like, wake everyone up!” You scold, pressing a finger to your lips.

“Right! I should go,” Hoseok says, already half-way out the window.

“Okay, like, bye weirdo,” You say, shooing him away with a smile. “Drive safe.”

✦ ✧✦

As Hoseok starts the car’s engine, his sister’s Don Henley cassette tape begins to play.

_I can tell you my love for you will still be strong,_

_After the boys of summer have gone_

“Yah!” He shouts, quickly punching the buttons on the tape player to turn it off – it’s no surprise that it breaks. Letting out a frustrated breath of air that blows a bit of his fringe up, Hoseok looks at your bedroom window once more – your lights are off now, probably already dreaming of the tall, muscular boy with tanned skin. He shakes his head, looking down sadly as he presses his hand on his temple.

“Ah, Jung Hoseok, you’ve always had shit luck,” he tells himself with a humorless chuckle. “What are we going to do with you?”

Hoseok drives home in gloomy silence.

* * *

[ **August** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DWpmILPAcRQo&t=YjI4ODcxYmEzNDc4ZGQ2Nzc2M2ZjZmJlNzZkZWU4N2U1YzU2NzQzOSxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

You spend a good chunk of August getting ready for your big move to Seoul. Your stepmother dragged you to every store she could think of to get all the essentials that you needed – and some you didn’t. You don’t know how you will fit everything she had gotten you in that small dorm that you’re sharing with another person.

You haven’t gotten a chance to see your friends at all, too busy with packing and preparations to hang out. They were all busy as well though. Like you, Suzy and Taehyung were also preparing to leave for university. Jimin – who was usually in Gwangju every summer, staying at Tae’s place – decided to stay back home to help out his grandparents. And Hoseok was promoted to teach a few more classes at the dance studio, so he was spending most of his time there.

You only get to see them again on the day you all accompany Taehyung to the airport. He was leaving to study at some fancy private University in Sweden.

“Jimin, I’m sorry I only visited you twice a week,” Taehyung cries, wrapping his arms around his best friend. “I’ll try harder when I come back in four years.”

“Aren’t you being a little too dramatic?” Jimin asks, patting Taehyung’s back as the latter cries harder. “You can probably fly back here every weekend if you wanted to.”

Everyone except Taehyung mutters an agreement to Jimin’s statement, but Taehyung ignores it and goes to Suzy next.

“My Bae Suzy,” Taehyung says, embracing her tightly. “I don’t think I’m ready to be an uncle yet but for you, I will try.”

Suzy rolls her eyes, trying to push him away. “Grody to the max, Taehyung! Why does everyone think I’m going to be pregnant soon? Like ew, no.”

Taehyung moves onto Hoseok next.

“Hobi-hyung, can you please check up on Yoongi sometimes? Make sure he’s okay?” Taehyung requests, as he hugs Hoseok.

“That’s your goodbye to me? Telling me to visit your little boyfriend?” Hoseok says irritated as he gives Taehyung a noogie. “You little shit.”

Once he finishes massaging his sore head, Taehyung finally gets to you. He grabs your shoulders, smiling although the tears still haven’t let up.

“Y/N… I don’t really know how I’m going to make it without you…Who else is going to nag me all the time to finish my assignments and readings?”

You smile tightly at him. “Don’t worry, Tae. You know I’ll find a way to keep doing it!”

He pretends to cringe, but then he is lifting you off the ground and twirling you around.

“I’m going to miss you so much!” Taehyung whines. He sets you down and looks around at all of you, wiping the tears on his face. “I’ll miss all of you so much.”

Taehyung opens his arms wide and the rest of you bombard him in a final group hug.

✦ ✧✦

When Taehyung’s plane leaves, the four of you remaining part ways. Jimin hitches a ride with Suzy, while you go with Hoseok. When you get inside his car, you noticed the brand new tape cassette player and an abundance of empty Twinkies wrapper – the snack that Hoseok binges on when he’s in a sad mood.

“So when’s Jennie leaving for Tokyo?” you ask as you eye them.

“I think she left last week?”

“You think?” You say, laughing. “You don’t even know when your girlfriend left?”

Hoseok was silent for what seems like minutes but in reality it must have been just 30 seconds, you say his name out of concern.

“Jennie and I broke up.”

“What? When?”

“Last month.”

You gape at him, shaking your head in disbelief. “Last month? When last month? You two were so happy at the fair!”

Hoseok chuckles. “That was actually the night we broke up.”

“Oh my god, Hoseok! Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. You were busy and I didn’t really want to bother you with my problems.”

You slap his arm, annoyed, and he yelps in pain. “So instead of telling your best friend, you drown your sorrows in, like, 5 boxes of Twinkies?”

“It was actually 7 boxes…”

You slap his arm again.

“Ow! Aren’t you supposed to make me feel better? Not worse?” Hoseok whines, rubbing his arm.

“Right,” you mutter, nodding. “Turn the car around.”

Hoseok raises an eyebrow and you roll your eyes.

“Trust me.”

✦ ✧✦

Hoseok and you leave the movie theatre with Hoseok repeating Patrick Swayze’s ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner’ line in various ways. You giggle as Hoseok’s excited feet began to shimmy along the sidewalk, you knew they’ve been dying to dance around ever since the first dance number in Dirty Dancing came on screen.

“That was so good!” Hoseok moans, twirling around with his arms wide open. When he stops, he flashes you a bright smile. “Thanks Y/N.”

With your arms crossed, you shrug, smiling back.

The two of you walk along the promenade of the shopping center, neither wanting to go back to his car to go home just yet. The night was too beautiful to waste inside a stuffy car.

Hoseok notices you shivering, so he takes off his denim jacket and places it on your shoulders.

“Thanks,” you smile, wearing it properly.

“No problem… I think I’m going to try for Julliard next year.”

Your eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok nods. “I hope Jimin doesn’t get mad me.”

You shake your head, smiling. “You’ll both get in.”

Hoseok then runs three dozen steps ahead, and then turns around to face you, holding his hand up for you to stop. With your eyebrow quirked up, you do. He begins to dance Swayze solo part in Time of My Life, snapping his fingers to create a beat. Your mouth falls open as Hoseok danced each step perfectly.

“How… how could you even know all the steps already?” you ask, incredulously. “Are you sure you just saw the movie today?”

Hoseok laughs. “Of course! It just came out today, you airhead!”

Then he is motioning you to him. “Let’s try that jump move!”

“No, no, no! No way!” You say as you shake your head frantically.

Hoseok pouts, his hands coming together in a pleading way. “Please, please, please, Y/N! It will make me so happy!”

He flutters his eyelashes a couple more times before you finally give up with a sigh.

“Fine.”

As you get ready to sprint towards him, you glare. “But I swear… If you drop me, Jung Hoseok, I will kill you.”

“I won’t drop you!” Hoseok promises.

With a final head shake of regret, you run towards your best friend. Then in a blink of an eye, he is lifting you up above his head and you are squealing your head off.

“I’ve had the time of my life and I’ve never felt like this before!” Hoseok sings over your squeals. You are suspended in the air for a couple more seconds before Hoseok lets you down gently, your voice eventually dying down.

With his arms still wrapped around your waist, Hoseok gives you a lopsided smile. “Told you, I won’t drop you.”

You could only nod as you stare up at him. He was so close; you could even see the new freckles on his face thanks to the summer sun. Your first thought was to tell him to wear more sunscreen, but then your eyes drifts down to his soft, pink lips and you’re thinking something entirely different.

Hoseok was on the same boat. At first he wanted to tell you that he thinks you broke his eardrums, but then your bright eyes distracted them. Then it was your lips. And now all he wanted to do was close the space between the two of you and press his mouth on yours.

Hoseok clears his throat, pulling away as he scratches the back of his neck. You do the same, face heating up.

Hoseok stuffs his hand is his pocket. “So…”

“So…” you repeat after him.

“You’re leaving next week, huh?” Hoseok says and you nod.

“I’m kind of freaking out but at least I have a friend there.”

Hoseok chuckles. “Friend, right. I’ll tell Taecyeon you said that.”

You slap his arm, pouting. “You know what I mean.”

“Mmhmm…” Hoseok hums, walking ahead. You watch as he looks wistfully up at the moon. “Hey, Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you miss me?” He asks, looking over his shoulder at you.

You swallow hard, the moonlight illuminating Hoseok so beautifully. He glows.

“Of course.”

Hoseok smiles widely.

“Good,” he says, walking back to you. He places his hand on top of your head, patting it twice.

“But I bet I’ll miss you more.”

* * *

[ **September** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNOGEyBeoBGM&t=Yjc1N2Q5MDI0ZjJlODQ4YTZkY2IzY2MyNzMzMGMwZjM4ZDU5ZDYwMSxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

 University is beyond brutal. You don’t quite recall the first month of any years of high school being this tough. You had assignments, projects, readings, presentations, and seminars up the wazoo.

The only things getting you by was dark roast coffee and  make-out sessions  study dates with Taecyeon over at his solitary dorm room.

At the end of the month, Belinda Carlisle released her new single ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’. Much to your dismay, you actually really liked it. You try to call Hoseok several times to admit defeat, but he was always busy when you tried to reach him.

* * *

[ **October** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcZiq84hM74g&t=YTkzZjE5YmYwNTVkZDU5ZjdkZWNhYzAyOWY2MjljYjlkNjNlOWVjOCxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

On the first day of the month of October, Taecyeon decided to drop the bomb on you.

“I love you,” he tells you, just as you were about to unbutton the last button on his shirt. You stop, looking up at him stunned.

Taecyeon sits up, embarrassed, while you continue to look at him with yours eyes and mouth wide open.

“Do you…?” Taecyeon trails off.

You touch the locket around your neck – a habit that you’ve adapted since you got it, a sense of comfort when you’re feeling worried or sad or apprehension. But right now, touching the locket seems to have another meaning.

“I’m sorry Taecyeon… I don’t think I feel the same way back.”

You experience your first walk of shame that day – and hopefully, it will be your last.

✦ ✧✦

A week later, you’re back home for Suzy’s birthday. And as you knock on Suzy’s door, there’s a present in your hands and a confession waiting to slip out your lips for when you see Hoseok.

Suzy opens the door with a bright smile, but Taehyung barges past her and tackles you into the ground, crushing Suzy’s present in the process. Suzy scolds him as she helps you up.

“Well, here’s your present,” you tell Suzy, opening up the box with the crushed desserts when you get into her kitchen. “It was pretty before.”

Suzy thanks you while turning to Taehyung with a glare, the younger boy shrugs as he stuffs a piece of éclair in his mouth. “Stoll twaste gwood.”

Leo comes into the kitchen looking for another case of beer to take into the living room for the other guests.

“It’s actually in the basement, my baby snookums,” Suzy coos as she gives him Eskimo kisses.

Leo presses a kiss on her lips. “Okay, my lovely sweetlips.”

It takes every strength you and Taehyung had not to barf right then and there.

“You two are, like, so disgusting,” you say, sticking your tongue out in disgust, when Leo leaves the room.

“Seriously!” Taehyung agrees.

Suzy frowns. “You’re both just jealous ‘cause you’re both single!”

You and Taehyung look at each other, surprised as you say at the same time, “You’re single?!”

Taehyung nods sadly. “Yeah, Yoongi isn’t really a long-distance kind of guy.”

“Aw…” You say, wrapping your arms around him in comfort.

“Oh, don’t feel bad for him,” Suzy says as she rolls her eyes. “He was already talking about some rich snob he has a crush on. What’s his name again? Jungkook?”

“Yeah, and he won’t give me the time of day,” Taehyung cries in your shoulder. He looks up at you, snot running down his face. “What happened with Taecyeon?”

“We broke up last week.”

“You and Taecyeon broke up?” A newcomer asks.

You turn to the voice, beaming wide. Hoseok stands by the door with his mouth open.

It’s only been a month since you last saw him and he already seems a bit different. His hair is no longer orange, it’s now a light brown. And he looks a bit more muscular than before, probably because he was taking his dance practices more seriously.

As you let go of Taehyung so you could greet Hoseok, a figure appears by his side.

“Sis, how could you break up with Taecyeon?” Hyejeong asks you, bewildered. “He was so hot!”

You look between the two of them with wide eyes.

You spend the rest of the night avoiding Hoseok.

* * *

[ **November** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2PqhOrgk11A&t=ZmJkYjg4NjZhNzg1ZjQwMmYzMmIzYmU1ZjFlMzBmZmE3NjAzNmQ5ZSxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

November is your least favorite month. No matter what good things happen in the month of November – birthdays, parties, acing tests and assignments - you still hated it.

You hated November 29 th  the most. That one day so far into the month was the reason you loathe it so much. It was when your family – Poodles included – squish into your father’s car and head to the graveyard to pay your respects to your mother. It has been 11 years but you still can’t believe that she’s gone.

So there you are again, at your mother’s plot, dead leaves on the ground, bitter cold air nipping at your skin, your father crying softly as your stepmother holds him, Hyejeong with her head down, and even Poodles who is always wagging her tail and running around, was lying down and whining sadly.

You stare at your mother’s headstone, fingers on the locket around your neck, tears streaming down your face.

_Loving Daughter, Wife, Mother, and Friend_

You don’t remember much about your mother, she had died when you were so young; but you remember that she loved you so much and you loved her too.

After two hours, your father has finally stopped crying and announces that it’ll be dark soon and that you should all head home. Your father and stepmother start walking away but you stay rooted on the spot – you wanted to stay longer. You feel your stepsister squeeze your arm lightly, her silent way of comforting you. You smile sadly her way, which she returns before joining the rest of your family. No matter how you treat each other on the other days of the year, Hyejeong was always kind and respectful towards you on this day.

You stay for a couple more minutes before you finally turn to leave. When you reach the place where the car was parked, you see another vehicle there and someone talking with your family. You watch as Hoseok gives your father a comforting hug and then bends down to pet your dog. They all turn towards you when they hear you approaching, your boots crunching the leaves underneath it noisily.  

“Hon, I know you want to stay longer,” your father says, looking from you to the boy whose eyes were set on you. “Hoseok said he can take you home.”

“If you want,” Hoseok adds, standing up and stuffs his hands in his black slacks. It has been a little over a month since you’ve last spoken to Hoseok, and the thick tension in the air confirms that.

You don’t say a word, instead just nod in response.

After saying goodbye to your family, you and Hoseok walk back to your mother’s plot in complete silence. Hoseok lags a step behind you, his eyes trained on you, wishing you would say something – anything – to him. But no words are exchanged, not even as 15 minutes passes by when the two of you were finally back at your mother’s grave. Anxiety takes over you, you felt uncomfortable and so drained.

You start to cry. You don’t know whether your crying because it’s the anniversary of your mother’s death or because your best friend since you were five years old is beside you and you can’t find any words to say to him.

How did it get to be this way? You wanted to tell him that you missed him and that you’re sorry for not returning his calls. You wanted to tell him that you picked up the phone several times, dialing his number half-way but eventually hanged up out of fear. You wanted to tell him that you lie awake at night, thinking of him, wondering if he is missing you too. You wanted to tell him that if he is happy with your stepsister, you’ll be happy for them too. You wanted to tell him so many things, but nothing comes out.

You felt Hoseok grasp your hand, and it makes you cry even harder. You tighten your hand in his.

Finally, four little words slip out your mouth, hoarse and broken because your throat was so sore from crying.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Hoseok turns you towards him and wraps his arms around you. You bury your face in the crook of his neck, feeling at home in the familiar scent of him.

Maybe those four words were more than enough.

* * *

[ **December** ****](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfX4t2hH01Cc&t=OTBhMzdlOTA5YzQyY2Q2NjU5YzlhZWYzMmQ2NTBlNGJjYTkxOWUzOCxydkNNdWZYSQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ASou6_BtQuORwuT1nlYbpKw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmint-tape.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155042143521%2Fblue-kiss&m=1)

 

Slowly by surely, your relationship with Hoseok goes back to normal. And although you’re back in Seoul and he is still in Gwangju; the two of you are calling each other at least once a day, and most of the time you’ll talk on the phone until the sun rises – much to your roommate’s annoyance.

You head back home for the holidays. You spend Christmas Eve with your family and then Christmas Day with your friends – sans Hoseok, because he was at Jeju Island with the rest of his family, spending time with Sooyoung’s boyfriend (well, now fiancé) Minho’s family there.

Hoseok tells you that he’ll be back on New Year’s Eve, and you count the seconds you can finally see your best friend again. There were only a few hours left until you do, and you were so excited – that is, until Hyejeong knocks on your door, wine stain on her dress, asking to borrow one of yours for her date that night.

You nod, standing up from your desk that was littered with makeup as you were also getting ready to go out tonight, abandoning your left eyeliner to pick out a dress for her in your closet. “Yeah, sure. Which one do you want?”

“The cute purple one with the puffy sleeves,” she says, as she looks down at her dress. “I swear mom spilled the wine on me on purpose, she said before she thought this dress was ‘too sexy’.”

“I think it’s cute, totally Cyndi Lauper,” you say.

“Right?”

You walk to her, dress in your hands, with a smile. “Here… So when’s Hoseok picking you up?”

She gives a confused look. “Why would Hoseok be picking me up?”

“Cause… you’re going on a date with him?”

“Wait, why do you think I’m dating Hoseok?” Hyejeong asks, laughing so hard she had to sit on your bed to steady herself. “What in the world…”

“Aren’t you… You were his date to Suzy’s birthday.”

“Oh yeah. That was, like, just Hoseok being really nice to me after finding out what a shit week I was having,” Hyejeong says with a shrug.

You sit down beside her. “What do you mean?”

Hyejeong sighs sadly, remembering that week. “That was around the time my dead-beat dad cancelled our plans that he had promised for months.”

“Oh.”

“And then Hoseok caught me, like, crying my eyes out and offered to lend an ear…”

“Yeah, he does that.”

“And then he asked me to go to Suzy’s birthday party to cheer me up. He told me it was bad to just hole myself up in the house. He was just being nice…”

Hyejeong smiles, looking at you. “Besides, even if I had wanted to be more with Hoseok… He is, like, already in love with someone else.”

“Who?” You ask.

Hyejeong gives you a look that says ‘are you blind?’ before chuckling. “Hm… Let’s see… She’s, like, really smart…  This tall… has hair like yours… eyes like yours…”

“Me?” You say, confused. “You think Hoseok is in love with me?”

Hyejeong shakes her head. “I don’t think… I know. It’s the reason he even found me crying… He was always over at our house, hanging out in your room like a love-sick puppy.”

“What?” You say, still in disbelief.

“Come on, sis… You can’t be serious…” Hyejeong says. She taps her finger on her chin, thinking. “Is it because you love him too that you’re blind to it?”

Your mouth gapes open. “I don’t lo-“

“Sure…” she cuts you off with a smirk. She stands up, pulling you to your vanity. “Let me finish your eyeliner for you.”

You allow Hyejeong to finish the rest of your makeup as she was way more skilled than you. In the end you have two perfect winged liner and your lips bright, cherry red.

“You know… you’re not that terrible,” you tell her. “You’re actually pretty cool.”

Hyejeong giggles, nudging you with her elbow. “Don’t get too comfortable, sister. I’ll still always resent you for destroying my Malibu Barbie dream house.”

Smiling, you shake your head. “I wouldn’t blame you. It was awesome.”

“Heck yeah, it was,” Hyejeong says. You hand her the dress and she smiles gratefully at you. “But anyway, you’re actually pretty cool too.”

You stand up and Hyejeong does something that really surprises you – she hugs you. Stunned, you slowly wrap your arms around her too but you melt into the hug as the seconds pass.

She sighs when she pulls apart from you. “Well I should go get ready, I don’t want to keep Namjoon waiting.”

Your eyebrows raise when you hear the name. “You’re dating Kim Namjoon?”

Hyejeong nods cheerfully. “Yeah, you remember him?”

“Yeah, I do,” you say. It was ironic but surprisingly fitting that the two catalysts for yours and Hoseok’s first kiss were now dating each other. “That’s great. He’s a…cool guy.”

“Yeah, he is,” she giggles. “And like, really impatient so I should go.”

“Have fun!” You tell her, and she walks out with the dress, waving goodbye.

“Oh, and sis?” Hyejeong says, peering into your room again.

“Yeah?”

“Tell Hoseok how you feel. Don’t wait anymore and do it tonight,” Hyejeong advices you. She throws a fist up, smiling widely. “I’ll be rooting for you!”

✦ ✧✦

You get to Taehyung’s house a little after 11 o’clock; and as always, his place was packed tight. The only difference this year was that there was a lot more unfamiliar faces in the crowd. They must have been his new friends from his fancy university, they’re all dressed in designer clothing. You find Taehyung first, but his lips were too busy being pressed on a boy with a scar on his cheek wearing Dior Homme S/S 1988; so you walk the other way, not wanting to bother him. It was Jimin you find next.

“Jimin!” You yell, over the music and he turns, hugging you when you got close enough.

“Y/N, you’re here! Did you get caught up in traffic?” He asks, and you nod.

“I’m looking for Hoseok, is he here yet?” You ask. He nods enthusiastically, smiling widely. “Yeah, he got here like 20 minutes ago. He was actually looking for you too!”

“He was?”

“Yeah, I think he went that way,” Jimin says, pointing to his right. You follow his finger without another word, hurrying away.

Five minutes later, Jimin’s direction was completely useless, there was no sight of Hoseok anywhere. On top of that, you get cornered by Jeonghan, asking about your holidays before going off on a tangent about his accomplishments so far in University – it takes you 10 minutes to finally leave the conversation. You make another round around the ground floor before settling on the bottom of stairs, exhausted. Where could he be?

Then it hits you as you slowly look up the stairs. Smiling to yourself, you climb up and enter the first door on the left.

Looking around Taehyung’s room, you find it’s empty – much to your disappointment. You sigh, your smile turning upside down. You were about to leave the room when you noticed a shadowed figure through the double doors that leads to the balcony. You walk towards the doors and see that it’s slightly ajar.

You open the door and was greeted with the back of a man with peach blond hair. You reach up to tug it, and Hoseok is turning around with a yelp.

“Tell Sooyoung you’ll be bald if she keeps changing your hair color,” you tell him.

“Ow,” he says, frowning. “I like it!”

You stand beside him, watching the people already gathering below for the countdown. It was five minutes until midnight.

“I need to tell you something,” you both say at the same time, facing each other.

“Uh… Ladies first?” Hoseok says.

“No, no, you go first,” You insist, suddenly feeling shy.

“No… You go.”

“No, you!”

“No, I think y-“

“Fine! Hoseok, I love you!” You tell him, closing your eyes. Your heart felt like it was beating out of your chest and you were afraid of opening your eyes to see what his reaction might be. Now that you’ve said it, you wish you could take it back. What if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if it ruins your friendship? What if –

“Y/N…” You hear Hoseok say and then you feel his hand on your chin, tilting your head up. “Can you open your eyes please?”

Slowly, you open your eyes one at a time and what you see was the brightest smile that ever graced Hoseok’s face. It is a sight to see, you forget how to breathe.

“Did you mean what you just said?” He asks.

“Yes.”

“You just made me the happiest man in the whole world,” Hoseok says, looking down, still smiling. You grin at him. “Really?”

“Yes really,” he says, looking into your eyes once again. “How can I not be happy when the most amazing girl just told me she loves me?”

He takes your hands in his.

“You’re one in a million-“

“Oh… so there’s, like, 4 thou-“

“Y/N, please stop ruining my romantic confession. I  _was_ going to say 'billion’ but it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as smoothly as 'million’,” Hoseok says, sighing as one of his hands lets go of yours to run it through his hair out of frustration. You giggle at his dramatics, and he looks down back at you, smiling because of how god damn adorable you are. “Can I continue?”

“You may…”

Hoseok then closes the space between the two of you, wrapping his arms around you.

“I love you, Y/N.”

And then, exactly like a year ago, you end the last year and begin the new one kissing your best friend. But this time you knew that the new year will only bring happiness and joy. Hoseok holds on to you so tightly, like he’s afraid of letting you slip out his grasp like you have many times before.

“I actually miss the orange hair,” You murmur, pulling away slightly as you run your hand gently through his hair. Hoseok smiles, placing a kiss on the corner of your mouth, “I knew you loved it.”

“I did,” you giggle, as Hoseok places several kisses all over your face. “But, I guess this peachy blond suits you too.”

“Just admit it, you think I’m the handsomest man in the whole galaxy,” Hoseok says.

You roll your eyes. “Okay, let’s not get too cocky here. ‘Cause somewhere out there, Han Solo exists.”

“Whatever you say…” Hoseok sighs, kissing your lips again. He was right though – you did think that he’s the ‘handsomest man in the whole galaxy’. And now he is all yours.

The two of you only pull away again when you both hear a triumphant shout of “Finally!” being said from below. You both peer down and see your friends looking up at you, Suzy - being the one that said it – was waving enthusiastically, whooping and hollering while Leo shakes his head in embarrassment beside her, and Jimin is clapping with his mouth open in awe.

Taehyung cups his hands around his mouth and yells, “I’m really happy for you two but you better not do anything nasty in my bedroom! It’s now off limits to you too!”

You roll your eyes, turning to Hoseok. “Like I’d want to do anything on his dank-smelling bed…”

“Right? We’re not animals,” Hoseok says, scoffing.

“Although…” You begin, running your finger up and down Hoseok’s chest. “… I’ve always thought his parent’s bedroom is, like,  _really_ nice.”

Hoseok sucks in a breath, eyes widening as you flutter yours at him.

“Yeah, and it’s not like they ever use it anyways…” He manages to say.

You smile coyly, grabbing Hoseok hand to leave your friend’s bedroom. Both giggling and blushing as you quickly climb up to the third floor - where you and Hoseok will spend the entirety of New Year’s Day together.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, let me know what you think because i thrive on reader engagements jdskl, it will help inspire me to write the drabbles i've planned for this au!! also on my tumblr i've been taking muse ask questions so if you want to ask a question to the blue kiss crew, please feel free to there!
> 
> [tumblr](https://minflix.tumblr.com/) / [twitter](https://twitter.com/minrosies) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/minrosies)


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